No More Firehouse Dogs In Chicago After Pet Killed

CHICAGO— The Chicago Fire Department announced Monday that all dogs living at firehouses will need to be found a new home after a firehouse dog got out and killed a family pet near an Englewood station.

Engine 116 at 60th Street and Ashland Avenue is the former home of a dog named Bones, a rescued mixed-breed stray from the Englewood neighborhood. Bones got out of the firehouse while the door was open for maintenance and attacked a smaller dog that belonged to an Englewood resident who lives just down the street from the station. While the incident is the first in Fire Department spokesperson Larry Langford's memory, it represents a long issue with having animals at engine houses.

"In Chicago, that tradition is fading for several reasons. In the old days, Chicago had single truck firehouses with a small crew," said Langford. "Now, we have much larger firehouses with two dozen people in them during each shift. It's stressful for the dog and sometimes the humans."

In addition, the vast majority of Chicago's 96 firehouses have not had dogs for a while, according to Langford.

Still, the decision was met with pushback from some paramedics and firefighters who said the presence of a dog helps them decompress after a stressful shift.

"Our men and women deal with death every day. They deal with some of the most heartbreaking things you can possibly imagine," said president of the Chicago firefighters union Jim Tracy in an interview with the Chicago Tribune. "It might not be a comfort dog with all the papers, but it’s a comfort for them. It goes a long way."

Acting Fire Commissioner Annette Nance-Holt wrote in a department memo that there are no exceptions to the new rule. According to Langford, many of the firehouse dogs will be adopted by current members of their former firehouse.

"It's with mixed emotions and a heavy heart that we had to change the general order to rescind all the permissions," said Langford, "but we have to make a proactive decision on safety. The truth is that not all the paramedics and firefighters are going to be dog-lovers and I would also be heartbroken if something like this were to happen again, but a firehouse dog hurt a small child or baby."

Department officials will check with firehouses to ensure dogs have been removed, a department spokesman told WMAQ-Channel 5.

Langford said almost all the Chicago firehouse dogs are strays from around the neighborhood that are picked up by firefighters who then ask permission to keep the dogs on site. However, some firehouses may have received permission in the past and then decided not to keep a dog or never asked for permission. Because of that, it's hard to say how many firehouse dogs are currently in Chicago.

For now, Bones is going to Chicago Animal Care and Control while he awaits a family that feels comfortable fostering him, according to an admin on the Chicago Firehouse Pups Facebook page.