Dog's Best Friend: Firefighter Rescues Unconscious Canine From Burning Home

A Virginia firefighter's courage went to the dogs this week as he ran into a burning home to rescue an unconscious canine.

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It all started when firefighter Paul McNeely of the Abingdon Volunteer Fire & Rescue in Virginia got word that there was an unconscious dog inside the home where he and his colleagues had responded.

McNeely, donning a bodycam, ran inside and found Roxy lying unconscious on the floor of one room. He rushed her outside and immediately put an oxygen mask on the dog.

Roxy’s "sister," Daisy, was rescued earlier and was already receiving treatment.

In a video supplied by PETA and featuring McNeely's bodycam footage, McNeely said the medics went through four oxygen tanks in an hour to help bring Roxy and Daisy back to life.

“We were all shocked,” he said of the moment when they began to show signs of life.

"When we came back to the station it made us feel good,” McNeely added. "It made us all feel good. You can’t save them all but it feels good when you do."

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A week after the fire, PETA arranged for the dogs to be reunited with their rescuers, and McNeely got emotional.

"It felt good. It did. I'm a grown man — I'll admit it — it made me want to cry, at least get teary-eyed," McNeely said. "Any animal that's in a house with a family relies on the family to take care of [him or her], and [Roxy] was helpless. It couldn’t help itself."

PETA also presented the rescuers with the Compassionate Fire Department Award for their heroics.

Watch: Firefighter Rescues Motionless Dog From Apartment Fire Using Mouth-To-Snout Resuscitation