Dozens of life-saving kits for pets donated to Scottish fire crews

Dozens of potentially life-saving kits for pets have been donated to fire crews across Scotland, as part of a programme developed by an East Lothian charity that works with care-experienced children.

Fostering Compassion’s Animal Heroes project is inspired by Meghan Ambrozevich-Blair, a young aspiring vet who died in a car crash eight years ago.

The kits allow fire crews to administer oxygen to animals. They have been used to save the lives of family pets involved in house fires and road traffic collisions.

East Lothian community firefighter Jenni Collins said: “We do know they are used yearly, if not monthly, by our crews and just last year a dog was rescued in a house fire just five miles from here.”

Kevin Blair, Meghan’s dad, is a former firefighter from Dunbar who was contacted by the charity.

He said: “Meghan never really got the chance to work alongside Lesley (Lesley Winton, founder of Fostering Compassion) and her team.

“I think she would have loved doing that and she would have fitted in perfectly, and the Animal Heroes workshop in my mind keeps Meghan’s memory alive, and I think it also gives Meghan the chance through me to keep her ideas going.”

The charity has now provided 28 kits, some to stations as far away as Skye, and hopes to expand the programme in the future.