North Yarmouth, ME — Finally Home Senior Dog Rescue and Retirement Home and the Maine POM (Pet Oxygen Mask) Project will benefit from a pet first aid/CPR class taught by Cumberland, Yarmouth and N. Yarmouth Animal Control Officer Bobby Silcott. The class will be held on Sunday, May 21, from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. at the N. Yarmouth Fire Dept., 463 Walnut Hill Rd.
Participants will learn how to administer pet CPR, medications, and treat emergencies including wounds, choking, bleeding, fractures, electrical shock, heat stroke, seizures, care for eye, paw and ear injuries, and more.
Silcott, a former 30-year veteran of the Naples Fire Department and an ACO since 2006, has also worked for the Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland. As a firefighter/EMT, he saw firsthand the tragedy of people losing pets, a situation sometimes avoidable if first responders had been equipped with pet oxygen masks at the scene. He began raising funds for the POM Project in 2009, also receiving instructor training in pet first aid/CPR, actively teaching classes throughout New England since that time.
“As of January, the POM Project has donated more than 600 sets of pet oxygen masks to fire/rescue departments,” said Silcott. In addition to saving companion animals, they are also used for K9 law enforcement working dogs in the line of duty. “There is no downside to educating people about how to save their companion animals. I am very fortunate to be a part of all this and raise funds for life saving pet oxygen masks in the process,” he added.
Laurie Dorr, president of Finally Home Senior Dog Rescue and Retirement Home, said, “We are grateful to Bobby, who totally volunteers his time, for providing expert instruction in the essential efforts involved in caring for our pets. Though he raises funds for the POM Project, his agreement to share class proceeds is but a small measure of his immense generosity and compassion.”
Cost of the class is $80 which covers a reference book and certificate. Funds go to purchase a kit of small, medium and large pet oxygen masks for local fire and rescue departments, as well as to Finally Home Senior Dog Rescue and Retirement Home. Class size is limited to 20 and advance reservations are necessary. Please contact Laurie Dorr at 207-831-6020 or email finallyhomerrh@gmail.com.
Finally Home Senior Dog Rescue and Retirement Home adopts and cares for needy senior dogs and networks to help other senior dogs find their “furever” homes. Visit www.finallyhomemaine.org.
To learn more about the Maine POM Project, visit www.mainepomproject.org or contact Bobby Silcott at 207-595-5644.
