February 1, 2010

The Animal Rescue Site.com: Welcome to The Animal Rescue Site $100,000 Shelter Challenge — together with Petfinder.com. Now you can help The Animal Rescue Site choose which eligible Petfinder.com animal rescue organizations will receive special funds to help animals! Voting is simple: just select your Country and (if U.S. or Canada) State/Province. All other fields are optional and accept partial (but not misspelled or inaccurate) information. You can cast one vote every day... Vote for Tail Wagger's USA today!

January 24, 6:52 PM

Examiner.com: Tail Waggers USA helps people keep the animals they love - Rev. Claudia Barber

It started as a simple promise to a beloved aunt. Twenty years later Tail Waggers USA has grown into an organization devoted to helping people help animals. Instead of rescuing animals themselves, they help other people rescue animals.

Tail Waggers was begun in honor of Jean Polka, and animal lover, rescuer and all around animal advocate. She and her husband Ted operated a bar in Detroit for many years and she would often take in the strays, feed the hungry, spay/neuter the wandering and care for the injured, all using her own funds.

Before Jean passed away, her niece Laura promised her that she would take care of Jean’s animals. In order to do so, Laura decided to have a one-time event to raise funds. That one time event is now the annual Tail Waggers Ball! To further their mission, Tail Waggers has focused on community needs where pet food assistance, spay/neuter funding, low-cost vaccinations and emergency services.

Tail Waggers USA holds vaccine clinics at various locations around the city to help people get their pets vaccinated and keep them healthy. Their Pet Food Assistance Program is designed so families’ who are struggling to keep their pets can get food to feed their animals. All food is donated. For a list of collection spots to donate food, check out the Pet Food Assistance section of Tail Waggers’ website.

Tail Waggers is also working on a Spay/Neuter Program and Emergency Assistance Program which will provide financial assistance to families who are in need when a pet is in a crisis. Their goal is to work with families to offset some of their medical costs or pay for services so that euthanasia can be avoided.

And finally, there’s Tail Waggers Breath of Life Program. This program donates specially made oxygen masks for use with dogs and cats to area fire departments. Founder Laura Zain had a vision three years ago to equip local fire fighters with these masks after hearing about how Matt Schaecher, a Detroit Firefighter and Tail Waggers board member, had to carry a dog out of a house fire in Detroit. Schaecher put his own life at risk by using his own oxygen mask to save the dog and suffered minor lung damage because of it.

Pets are at a greater risk than their owners of suffering smoke inhalation during a home fire because they hide rather than leave the house. Last year, more than 40,000 family pets died in home fires across the United States. Mask sets cost $50 each and to date, twenty-nine sets have been purchased. So far, Tail Waggers had donated these special oxygen masks to fire departments in Westland, Redford, Garden City and Inkster. Donations can be made specifically to the Breath of Life Campaign so that Tail Waggers can continue to equip the Fire Departments that are in need.

Tail Waggers USA is making a difference in the lives of people and the animals they love in the metro Detroit area. Check their website for information on coming events and ways you can help them help people and their pets. You can donate online or by mail. Donations are tax-deductible.

January 10,2010

Redford Observer:  Pets in peril to get breath of fresh air  By Pat Murphy • OBSERVER STAFF WRITER •

For centuries, dogs have been considered man's best friend.

With a little help from Livonia-based Tail Wagger's USA, firefighters in Redford, Westland and Garden City are now better equipped to return the favor by helping pets breathe a little easier.

“I think every firefighter has been called on to rescue a pet,” said Rob Pepper, EMS director for the Redford Fire Department. Now firefighters might have a better chance of being successful, he said Friday, when he accepted four sets of oxygen masks for pets. Departments in Westland and Garden City are also slated to get them courtesy of Tail Waggers.

“Saving lives is our first priority,” fire Chief James Gomulka said. “But after that, we do what we can for pets.”

Dogs are the most common pet rescued, the chief said. But EMS people are also called upon to rescue cats, rabbits, parrots, gerbils and other critters.

“Dogs are the easiest to work with,” Pepper said, “but cats don't always cooperate.”

The cone-shaped animal masks work much like those designed for humans, said Keith Barthauer, a paramedic with the Westland Fire Department. They fit over the nose and mouth, he said, and air is forced into the lungs. He and other paramedics won't need special training, Barthauer said, because the animal masks are so similar to those already in use for humans.

The masks come in three basic sizes: Large for animals weighing more than 35 pounds, medium for smaller animals and small for cats and other critters.

“These masks will be very useful,” said Mandi Coppola, a 2007 graduate of Churchill High School, who is studying to become a paramedic at the Michigan Academy of Emergency Services.

Pets can be at greater risk of smoke inhalation than humans, said Laura Zain, executive director of the local Tail Waggers chapter. “Sometimes they hide,” she said, presumably because they can't get out of the building. Last year, more than 40,000 pets died in house fires across the United States, she said.

The masks, made in Michigan, cost about $50 each, Zain said. Tail Waggers was inspired to buy them after reading about Matt Schaecher, a Detroit firefighter who used his own oxygen mask to save a dog during a house fire and may have sustained lung damage in doing so.

Funds were raised primarily through the Tail Wagger's Bowl, an annual bowling fund-raiser. The year's event is Nov. 13 at Woodland Lanes in Livonia.

Local Fire Departments Receives Life-Saving Tool For Pet Rescue

January, 2010 - When fire strikes, family pets can be injured or die from inhaling smoke. Because human oxygen masks don’t fit over animals’ snouts, local firefighters and rescue personnel can’t do much to help them. Until now.

Pet owners in Westland, Redford and Garden City can breathe a little easier - and so can their pets - because firefighters are receiving sets of specially-designed oxygen masks for use on dogs and cats - thanks to the generosity of Tail Wagger’s USA.

The fire department’s newly-acquired masks operate much as human masks do, but are cone-shaped to fit over an animal’s snout and come in three sizes - large canine mask, small canine mask and feline. Their design makes them more effective at delivering oxygen to family pets who have suffered smoke inhalation during a home fire.

Tail Wagger’s USA heard about the oxygen masks and was able to purchase them primarily due to the generous donations and support from their recent Tail Wagger’s Bowl - their signature fundraising event held every November.

Founder Laura Zain had a vision three years ago to equip local fire fighters with these masks after hearing about how Matt Schaecher, a Detroit Firefighter, had to carry a dog out of a house fire in Detroit. Schaecher put his own life at risk by using his own oxygen mask to save a dog and suffered minor lung damage because of it.

Pets are at a greater risk than their owners of suffering smoke inhalation during a home fire because they hide rather than leave the house. Last year, more than 40,000 family pets died in home fires across the United States.

More cities can receive the masks if animal lovers step forward to contribute to the Tail Wagger’s USA Breath Of Life campaign. Mask sets cost $50 each and to date, twenty-nine sets have been purchased and will be distributed to neighboring cities in need.

Contributions can be made through HYPERLINK "http://www.tailwaggersusa.org" www.tailwaggersusa.org or by mail at 27859 Oakley St., Livonia, MI 48154.

Tail Wagger’s USA is a 501 (c)(3) Non-Profit Organization, committed to helping people help animals. It is their ultimate goal to be able to support dedicated pet owners who are in need of assistance along with providing necessary funding for those animals in emergency situations.

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