When you have a medical emergency, you know to call the hospital or 911 But what if it's your four-legged friend in trouble?
That’s where one local woman is stepping in to fill a need.
“I’m disabled and I’m not allowed at the moment and I was wondering how I was going to get him down three flights of steps and back up,” said Shelly Ringer, a Pet Owner in Cleveland. One day her dog needed to go to the vet, and that’s when she called Yalanda Medina’s company, Squad FiftyOne.
“And it worked out great, it was like a God-Send,” Ringer said.
The squad cars were transformed and fully equipped with oxygen tanks, bandages and medical supplies.
“We do some of everything,” said Medina as she was rolling around in one of the vehicles on her next mission.
“We do 24 hour triage, and transport for animals,” she said.
Taking pets big and small to doctor’s appointments, checkups and even providing on the spot care for emergencies, Medina says her passion for animals is why she does it.
“It’s really important to keep a cool head when you’re dealing with these types of situations, even if it’s a non-emergency,” she said.
The only one of its kind in Ohio, born out of a bad experience when Medina’s own dog was sick and she had no one to turn to for help.
“I was just scared and panicked and I didn’t have any help,” she expressed.
Her service mostly accommodates people with appointments, but she admits the most exciting part of the job happens on the fly.
“You never know what you’re going to run up against when you there,” she said.
Her team of 6 people is all trained vet techs, nurses and paramedics able to care for the animals properly.
They can travel across the entire state for non-emergency calls.
