Would YOU give CPR to a pit bull? By DAILY MAIL REPORTER


If you saw two pit bulls struggling to breathe would you feel happy giving them CPR?

That’s exactly what Chicago firefighter Tammy Rodriguez did as she rescued two dogs from a house fire and resuscitated them both using CPR and applying oxygen.

Ms Rodriguez was in a fire team rescuing two pet pit bulls, Howdy and Hossa, from a blaze in Bucktown, Illinois, on Friday - and her quick thinking saved the lives of both.


Alive: Howdy the dog was saved by Chicago firefighter Tammy Rodriguez, who resuscitated her after a house fire using CPR and applying oxygen

Howdy, an adult dog, and Hossa, a puppy, were in the rear porch of a burning three-flat block where their owner, Jorden Grennan, lives. She was at work when the fire started.


One of Ms Rodriguez’s colleagues carried Howdy to her outside the fire. One of the dogs was critically injured and the other was in cardiac arrest.

‘(The dog) was completely out,’ Mrs Rodriguez, a 19-year fire service veteran, told CBS Chicago. ‘And we just started putting the mask (on) and giving it straight oxygen.


Ms Rodriguez was in a firefighting team rescuing two pet dogs from a fire in Bucktown, Illinois, on Friday - and her quick thinking saved the lives of both

‘I started performing CPR, and for a while there it wasn’t reacting, but I think just the positive pressure of oxygen made it start breathing, which was exciting.

‘All of a sudden she started opening her eyes and we’re like “Oh, my God” - and then she got up.’

Howdy has already made a public appearance at a press conference, but Hossa was kept in overnight at a veterinary centre.




Mrs Rodriguez said she 'started CPR, and for a while there it wasn't reacting, but I think just the positive pressure of oxygen made it start breathing'

The cause of the blaze, which did not injure anyone, is being investigated.

Ms Rodriguez - a trained emergency medical technician - said she owns three dogs who are 'part of her family' and was just doing her job.

'She rescued two dogs, performed CPR on them and brought both of them back to life,' a fire service spokesman said.

No big deal. Many a Firefighter has kissed many a dog.