Nonprofit has delivered nearly 1,800 animal resuscitation kits in 39 states and four countries

Photo by Chris Foster
David and Renee Roberts won the best costume in the couple’s category at the Air for Paws fundraiser.

By Calvin Nuttall

A fireman resuscitates a kitten using an Air For Paws-purchased breathing machine. Photo courtesy Air For Paws

It’s a classic heartwarming scene in movies. A firefighter heroically emerges from a smoldering building, cradling a fearful pet in their arms. Unfortunately, the first responders may not have the resuscitation equipment they need to save the animal’s life.

That’s why South Valley residents gathered at the pirate-themed Morgan’s Cove Oct. 22 to raise money for nonprofit Air for Paws to provide first responders with life-saving equipment for families’ pets such as dogs, cats, hamsters, and rabbits.

The Morgan Hill-based nonprofit was established in 2009 with the goal of providing specialized equipment to first responders they often do not have access to, said Air for Paws founder Terry Moriyama.

“The responders themselves go completely crazy to get this stuff,” she said. “Most of the first responders are all heart, and if … there’s a dog there that needs saving, they’re not going to walk away.”

Unfortunately, first responders’ budgetary constraints force them to struggle to even get enough human resuscitation equipment, leaving pet equipment low on the priority list. That’s where Air for Paws comes in. By using a nonprofit organization to purchase vet-quality resuscitation kits, first responders get them free, Moriyama said.

“Then we don’t have to make them go through the bureaucratic tape,” she said.

Air for Paws has grown from providing equipment to a single firefighter battalion in Morgan Hill to delivering nearly 1,800 animal resuscitation kits in 39 states and four countries. This includes kits for the U.S. Air Force, Coast Guard, and U.S. Navy. These kits aren’t just for pets, either. Working dogs from bomb sniffers to police K9 units to the dogs that protect the American President can often encounter hazards in the line of duty that might require resuscitation.

“They can pick up a whiff of something like that and like, immediate cardiac arrest,” Moriyama said. “So, the person has to have equipment right then and there or they lose the dog.”

The fundraiser featured a live auction, tarot card readings, live harp music played from atop a replica pirate ship situated in the garden, and food catered by numerous local restaurants. A couples’ costume contest crowned Renee Roberts and her husband, David Roberts, the winners, dressed as a park ranger and Smokey the Bear, in keeping with the fundraiser’s theme of protecting animals.

Several Morgan Hill political and business leaders were dressed in a variety of costumes. They rubbed shoulders with firefighters and police officers, including canine officer Bosco and his handler. All were there to show support for the cause of saving animals.

The venue for the fundraiser, Morgan’s Cove is a hidden gem set in a neighborhood off Hill Road. Rich Firato, the owner of janitorial company Firato Service Company, transformed his backyard into what has been described by visitors as a Disneyland like “Pirates of the Caribbean” attraction. Full of nautical decor and staffed by crew dressed in period-appropriate attire, this swashbuckling-themed home exudes a fun charm for those who tour it.

Comparisons with a certain rodent-based Southern California theme park were inevitable, to which Firato admits, “That’s a great compliment, when people say that. What I could do with their budget, oh boy.”

Morgan’s Cove was inspired chiefly by Firato’s fascination with the English privateer Sir Francis Drake. It has grown to include a small museum housing the research he has conducted about the intrepid adventurer, with a particular focus on his travels on the West Coast. Firato said writings about this period in Drake’s life are rare.

Morgan’s Cove annually hosts fundraisers for “two or three nonprofits for a good cause,” Firato said. “This is the second party for them,” he said, referring to Air for Paws. “It’s such a great cause. I just wish we could do it on a bigger scale.”

Calvin Nuttall is a Morgan Hill resident who has a passion for science, technology and politics.