Oxford residents Michelle and Jeff Leitch are singing the praises of the Oxford Fire Dept. and Jeff Templeton, a paramedic, who recently helped save the life of their puppy, Angel, a Shih Tzu Chihuahua Yorkie mix.
Michelle said that the mamma recently gave birth to five puppies about five weeks ago. The emergency situation occurred on Sept. 25 when Michelle said she and Jeff were rolling up an 8 foot-by-10 foot area rug that they were getting rid of.
Jeff took the rug, folded it up and took it out to the road because Friday is garbage day,? Michelle said. ‘So when he got back into the house we were calling ‘puppy, puppy, puppy? and counted one, two, three, four? Where is the fifth one??
Michelle and Jeff searched the house with no luck, when they realized that Candy, the puppies? momma, wanted outside to go to the rug. Jeff went out to the rug and unfolded it and unrolled it when the puppy appeared.
‘I went out there and just heard her chirping like she was gasping for air,? Jeff said.
Immediately Jeff began CPR to try and revive their little pup. Meanwhile, Michelle was on the phone with a Lakeville Veterinarian trying to find out where the nearest emergency (animal) hospital was at, that was open at 9:30 p.m. The closest one they could find was in downtown Rochester. Fearful that their pup wouldn’t make it, Michelle told Jeff to go first to the fire department. When they arrived they were greeted by Templeton.
‘He took her from my arms and put a little puppy mask on her and started giving her oxygen and then she started fighting it and stuff like that,? Michelle said. ‘They gave us a tank to take with us (on the way to the hospital) in order to keep the oxygen on her.?
Once they arrived at the clinic, Michelle said they were told by the Veterinarian that if they hadn’t gotten the oxygen from the fire department the puppy wouldn’t have survived.
‘It was just amazing what they did,? Michelle said.
Looking back on the situation, Jeff said he feels bad.
‘I felt bad because I was the one who rolled her up in it. (The puppies) were all climbing all over and I just moved them to the side and Angel went around me and went in head first,? he explained. ‘If she would have gone in butt first I think should have been OK.?
Michelle said she was also scared of losing Angel because someone had already put a deposit on her. While they are huge animal lovers, when asked if they breed on a regular basis Michelle replied ‘Oh, no?
‘Usually we send our male off when she goes into heat, but this time she snuck up on us. That was just an accident and momma had a little fun,? she said. ‘They are great puppies, but we’re happy with just having the older two dogs.?
Originally, Angel was named ‘Mittens,? because the white fur at the bottom of her paws looked like mittens, but after the accident they changed her name to Angel. Both Michelle and Jeff can’t thank the fire department enough for their help.
‘We just want to give a big shout out and let people know and recognize them for what they did,? Michelle added. ‘They’re not just human savers, but animal savers, too.?