Firefighters Nab Award for Consoling Dog After Fatal Highway Crash

PETA Honors Kuttawa Firefighters for Pulling Dog From Wreckage, Comforting Him As His Guardian Was Airlifted Away

For Immediate Release:
May 22, 2019

Contact:
Brooke Rossi 202-483-7382

A Compassionate Fire Department Award is on its way from PETA to the Kuttawa Fire Department, which offered some much-needed comfort to a dog named Lucky. After his family’s motor home crashed on I-24 early Friday morning, he refused to leave his severely injured guardian’s side as crews worked quickly to remove the debris. Rescuers freed Lucky and his guardian and got out another passenger, who had died during the crash—and when the dog’s guardian was airlifted to the hospital, Fire Chief Bill Compton held and consoled him at the side of the road. Lucky is now home with family members.

“Even though this dog was in danger, he wouldn’t leave his beloved guardian’s side,” says PETA Vice President Colleen O’Brien. “PETA hopes the kindness that these firefighters showed this loyal companion will encourage others to respect animals as the complex, sensitive beings they are.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview. The group encourages everyone with the time, resources, and dedication necessary to provide an animal with a lifelong home to consider adopting one from a local animal shelter.

The fire department will receive a framed certificate, a box of delicious vegan cookies, and a copy of The Engine 2 Diet—a Texas firefighter’s 28-day plan for staying in prime firefighting shape by eating vegan meals.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.