Pet first-aid class to be held in North Strabane
Animal lovers will have the opportunity next month to learn basic first-aid care for their pets.
Deb Chebatoris, who owns Chartiers Custom Pet Cremation in Bridgeville, is sponsoring the two-hour class April 27 at the North Strabane Township Municipal Building on Route 519. She’s sponsored pet first-aid training all over the region for the past eight years.
“I feel that it’s a win-win situation for me,” she said. “It puts my name out there to people who care about their pets, and instead of giving them a pen or some sort of advertising junk, they get the knowledge of how to potentially save their pet’s life.”
She said one of the reasons she puts on the training is because she doesn’t want to have to help families with burial plans for their pets “until it has lived the longest and best life it could have.”
Chebatoris hires Karen Sable of Allegheny County to teach the classes. Sable is a pet first-aid certified instructor who owns the company Pet Emergency Training LLC and is a member of the Westmoreland County Animal Response Team.
The class covers what to do if a pet gets stung or ingests something unsafe. It also covers CPR training as well as situations like choking, heatstroke, hypothermia and abrasions.
“People don’t realize how easy it is for a pet to get heatstroke,” Chebatoris said. “You need to be able to identify the symptoms and know how to act quickly. None of this replaces veterinary care. This just helps you stabilize your pet until you get veterinary care.”
People interested in registering for they class by April 24 can call Chebatoris at 412-220-7800.