A Denton teen is helping North Texas first responders to better save lives…animal lives.
Dixen Bray, 16, raised money, sponsorships and donations to provide pet CPR tools and training to four area fire departments.
On Friday, paramedics from Farmers Branch, Addison, Carrollton and Coppell joined together at the Farmers Branch Fire Department for a special pet-lifesaving training day.
Bray organized for the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine’s emergency team to come to the event and teach paramedics how to provide CPR, first aid and other lifesaving techniques to pets caught in fires or other emergency situations.
Invisible Fence of the Metroplex also donated 14 pet oxygen mask kits, as part of their Project Breathe initiative, to equip each of the four departments for the job.
Bray, a junior at Denton Guyer High School, organized the event and sponsorships for her Gold Award project in Girl Scouts, the organization’s highest achievement, much like the Eagle Scout rank in Boy Scouts.
While researching the topic, Bray said she learned about the need for, and lack of, such tools and training in many departments and decided to take the opportunity to help out.
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"You don't hear people say, 'save my house,' you hear them say, 'my dog's in there! Get my dog! Don't worry about the house, get the dog!' I don't know what I'd do if my dogs were in a fire,” she said.
For Bray, it’s also a work of passion.
The junior is the daughter of a veterinarian and hopes to be one herself one day, so she said doing the public service project with a focus on animals was her first choice.
"I just really have a passion for animals. I just love them,” she said.
Bray said the goal is to save more animal lives and keep families united during tragedies, hoping someday to see every fire department in the Metroplex receive the training and tools to do so.
