Fireman uses ‘mouth-to-snout’ to save poodle

Angel had been trapped in smoldering home for an hour

All Barry Minnich knew as he crawled into a smoldering house in Luling last Thursday was “I gotta find this dog” and then he saw Angel lying on the floor under the kitchen table.

The Luling assistant fire chief said he didn’t know what to expect. He’d already seen the burned side of the house and thought if the dog was there she could not have survived. The dog had been inside the home while it was burning for at

“It looked like a little rag doll … motionless,” said Minnich of the black poodle. “Then the back leg moved. I crawled under the table and grabbed the coat of the dog and pulled it to me. She opened her eyes, but that was about it. I gave her three or four breaths (mouth-to-snout resuscitation), she started moving her front paws and got a little more active. She wanted to snuggle under my fire coat so I just kind of tucked her in.”

Minnich’s love for animals is why he knew how to save Angel.In early 2000, he consulted the late Dr. Van Dugas, a Luling veterinarian, on how to care for them in emergencies.

He recounted losing two dogs in fires and was determined  to learn how to help them.

Now in his 42nd year with the fire department, these lessons have helped him save several dogs and cats, as well as horses trapped in trailers in traffic accidents.

“I happened to be there where we found little Angel,” Minnich said. “It worked this time and thanks to Dr. Van.”When he walked outside carrying the dog, the Estays who had just lost their house, thought they had lost Angel, too, or  until Minnich gave her oxygen.

“We all thought she was dead when they first bought her out,” Ambrose Estay said. “She wasn’t moving. Within 10 minutes time, she was running around. She still wants to be held, but she’s good now.”

Minnich, who praised fellow firefighters for helping contain the fire, had no idea how special Angel was to Ambrose’s wife, Melissa.

Nearly three years ago, the dog was bought for Melissa’s mother to help her deal with losing her husband of 54 years. When the puppy was placed in her hands, she instantly named her by announcing, “She is my angel.”

Their relationship lasted nearly three years until Melissa’s mother died and Angel came to live with the Estays.

And, as Minnich handed her to Melissa, she said she thought, “That is my Angel” and she thanked God. “She kept kissing me in my face like, ‘Mom, where have you been?’”