Pet’s loss may have been preventable

Mary A. Castillo

It was one of the worst things a pet owner could ever face.

Janice Murray had been pet-sitting King, a gentle 4-year-old pit

bull, as she always did when his owner was out of town. But that

Saturday evening turned into a nightmare when King inhaled his

favorite rubber ball and began choking.

“It happened right in front of me,” she said. “It wasn’t like I

turned away or stepped out of the room.”

Murray and a friend who had been visiting her Cress Street

apartment that night immediately began in vain to perform the

Heimlich maneuver on the dog. In their desperation to save him, they

even held him upside down.

“I had my hand down his throat, but his muscles constricted around

the ball and I couldn’t get a grip on it to pull it out,” she

recalled.

Neighbors ran over to help while Murray dialed 911. But because

the incident occurred after Animal Services had closed, there was

nothing the dispatcher could do. What Murray didn’t know was that

help was a phone call away through Pet Ambulance Inc.

The dispatcher she contacted was aware of the service, but instead

contacted a veterinarian for assistance and sent an officer to the

scene. As time and options ran out, Murray and her friend carried

King into her car and ran every red light on their way Crown Valley

Animal Care Clinic, the nearest after-hours emergency animal care

facility.

The doctor on duty at the clinic tried everything to get the ball

out, Murray said. But by the time she cleared his airway, King was

gone.

Murray became determined to do something to prevent a similar

tragedy from occurring in Laguna once she learned of Pet Ambulance, a

private company based in Garden Grove that specializes in emergency

animal care.

“We were powerless without emergency assistance,” Murray said.

“Had I been aware of a pet ambulance a lot of time could’ve been

saved.”

“I want to make residents aware of what happened,” she said.

Although she said she doesn’t want callers to rely on 911

exclusively, she hopes that Laguna Beach Police Department will

either make the Pet Ambulance number available to callers or be able

to integrate it into their system.

Last week Murray presented her case to Chief James Spreine.

“I asked her to get that information to me,” he said. “We are

willing to investigate anything we can to provide a better level of

service for the community.”

As soon as he receives the information about Pet Ambulance,

Spreine intends to work with dispatch staff and the animal services

division of the department to see if they can work the number into

the computer-aided dispatch system. The system will then allow

dispatchers to automatically transfer after-hour emergency calls to

the ambulance service.

Even if pet owners have access to the service, says Gary Reeves,

owner of the ambulance services, they should first take CPR training

before an emergency strikes.

“Take a class or have a vet show you how to do it when you take

your pet in for check-up,” he suggested. “Place the phone number of

the ambulance or your nearest emergency clinic next to the phone so

you don’t have to call 911.”

In the meantime Murray hopes to do something to honor her canine

friend.

“King had such a special spirit,” she said. “I want some kind of

good to come out of this.”

Pet owners can contact Laguna Beach Animal Shelter during business

hours for emergency care at (949) 497-3552. Pet Ambulance, Inc. is

available for after-hours animal emergency care or scheduled

transportation services at (877) 957-4968 or online at

www.mypet2vet.com.