The exclusive mission of firefighters is to save animals: it may not be worth it, but it pays to pay attention to every life



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15 minutes I received a letter about rescuing a cat from a tree in Kaunas. As is often the case, firefighters helped. Indifferent to the incident, the remaining Žilvinas also sent a photo of the rescue operation. Such letters only prove that people are concerned about troubled quadrupeds. And how do firefighters themselves view such additional functions?

According to Kaunas Fire and Rescue Board spokesman Džiuginta Vaitkevičienė, animal rescue operations have been carried out since the word “rescuer” appeared in the title of fire brigade. The firefighter became a firefighter-rescuer around 1995, so animals have been available to help for more than two decades.

Erik Ovcharenko / 15min photo / Puppy rescue and firefighter Donatas Kriogas

Erik Ovcharenko / 15min photo / Puppy rescue and firefighter Donatas Kriogas

“Since then, firefighters rescued kittens from trees, pulled puppies from wells, rescued birds, forest beasts, and destroyed dangerously located hornets. All animals are rescued equally, whether wild or domestic. It is important that there is one person to realize this and call the emergency number “, – assured Dž.Vaitkevičienė.

If the animal is homeless or no host is identified at that time, it is turned over to an animal care organization. If the host has asked for help, the animal is taken. According to the representative of the Kaunas Fire and Rescue Board, there have been several cases of homeless people in danger. animals are guarded by firefighters who rescued them themselves. Therefore, freed birds and wild animals are released and animal welfare societies take care of the wounded.

Last year, 266 animals were rescued and 7 people died in fires in Kaunas County. In Kaunas, 4 people emerged from danger and 2 were killed. 268 animals found in flames were rescued this year. Only two were killed.

Other rescue work was also carried out. Last year, there were 29 of them in Kaunas County. In Kaišiadorys district, a deer that broke into a pond could not be rescued, a cat rescued in Kaunas for 2 days at a height of 12 meters (a total of 17 rescue cases, not only hanging from the trees, but also on the roofs,, radiators, car engine compartment), a cow was pulled from a well in the Jonava district, children in the Prienai district reported that a cub was hiding near the school, a cub was thrown into an underground container in Kaunas, ducks in the Raseiniai district were rescued. stork, with the help of a tractor driver to remove two bulls from the ditch.

This year, 13 animal rescue operations (not during fires) have already been carried out. Cats and cats were also often involved in disasters.

When asked how much it costs on average to rescue such an animal, Dž.Vaitkevičienė assured that the service is not charged, but when calculating the financial costs, said departure of the firefighters can be compared to a false call (according to a special calculator, it is add various elements: salary, fuel costs, etc.).

“We do not make such calculations for the cost of the animal rescue operation to taxpayers,” said Vidas Kerševičius, the head of the Vilnius Fire and Rescue Board, when asked the same thing. – Of course, we can calculate how much the fuel cost, the depreciation of the car, the working hours of the officials. But in reality we are not saving the animals, but the people who are calling us. When people see a tortured animal, people also suffer.

And if we did not come to the rescue of a kitten squatting in a tree, perhaps its owner or its children would climb themselves and they would not know what would end, perhaps they would fall and injure themselves. Animals may not be worth rescue by firefighters, but I think it’s worth paying attention to every life. We work without deductions. “

And rescuing animals is not easy, even for cats. As rescuers get closer, they climb higher and higher, so firefighters must bring a ladder to reach them. Dogs generally fall into wells or rivers. Firefighters also have to rescue larger animals: horses, cows that have fallen into pits or ditches, caught in swamps, and deer that have broken in the winter.

“It is not easy to get them out, because they are distracting and can injure rescuers. When the stud farm in Vilnius was on fire, the horses had to cover their eyes, because otherwise you would not control them. There are times when firefighters suffer. There are times when a puppy rescued from a fire clenches its teeth to its rescuer. It is good that the gloves of the fire brigade are thick … “, V.Kerševičius smiled.

This time, Kaunas firefighters rescued a cat caught in a window; Since they never opened the door, they pushed the animal into the apartment. During the rescue, the cat bit the fireman’s hand. This had to be reported to the doctors.

People once called firefighters when they found a snake on a minibus in Kaunas.

Sonata Kukienė, Chief Specialist, Communication Division, Department of Fire Protection and Rescue 15 minutes He said that in March this year in the Šilutė district, Šyšgiriai, a strong wind destroyed the cattle farm, which had around 200 cows. Firefighters rescued 154 cows below the wreckage.

Recently, Kaunas firefighters rescued a young sheep that had slipped off a hill in Nevėžis, and in the colder winter they often had to rescue frozen swans.

Erik Ovcharenko / 15min photo / Rokas Jaruševičius and the Rokis dog

Erik Ovcharenko / 15min photo / Rokas Jaruševičius and the Rokis dog

“Firefighters have been calling and catching escaped parrots. People called them once when they found a snake on a minibus in Kaunas. There have been several cases of firefighters during a fire. took out the smoke-poisoned kittens and revived them (Sometimes some pets that stay home even become the cause of a fire – aut. Past.) O 2019 January after the fire in the Kaišiadorys district, Karčiupis village, official of the Kaunas Fire and Rescue Board Rokas Jaruševičius protected the dog from the dead owner RokisS.Kukienė shared stories.

The rescue work, according to her, has been carried out by firefighters since 1993. Initially, they drove to rescue only people involved in accidents, then the range of rescue work was expanded. Firefighters have been rescuing animals for more than 20 years.

According to the Fire and Rescue Department, this year firefighters rescued 779 animals in fires and 190 during rescue operations, including 156 horns, 17 cats, 10 dogs, 2 horses, a goat, a sheep, a pair of pigeons and a stork.

Last year, 637 animals were rescued in fires, 160 during rescue operations, including 64 cats, 25 dogs, 8 cows, 4 horses, 12 storks, 5 pigeons, and 2 swans.



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