Woman Builds 'Incredible' Mask for Dog to Protect Him From Wildfire Smoke

A woman in Rochester, New York, created an "incredible" mask to protect her dog from wildfire smoke in the area.

"Lots of smoke today in Rochester. My wife made a mask for our dog though. Kind of incredible," Twitter user Andrew White wrote in a post, sharing a photo of the dog and the mask.

The post comes as several areas throughout New York and some surrounding states have experienced poor air quality due to intense wildfires in parts of Canada.

"The smoke -- making the Eastern U.S. look like California at the peak of fire season -- is not normal. The air is compromised from Minneapolis to DC to Boston, and the worst from western NY to arround [sic] Ottawa," Capital Weather Gang, which is run by the Washington Post, wrote on Twitter, sharing a map of air quality levels in the Eastern U.S.

According to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, several areas of New York have air quality levels that are considered "unhealthy." There are also air quality health advisories in effect for Long Island, NYC Metro, Lower Hudson Valley, Upper Hudson Valley, Eastern Lake Ontario, Central, and Western Regions.

White's wife, Emily Uhde, told Newsweek on Thursday that she created the mask for her dog, Siggi, out of a hotel shower cap and an N95 respirator mask.

"Because I had the elastic, that's why I used the shower cap, then I could fit it right over my dog's muzzle," Uhde told Newsweek. "So, pretty simple, took maybe five minutes to make."

How to protect dogs and other pets

According to the American Kennel Club (AKC), if there is poor air quality in your area due to wildfire smoke, you should keep you pets inside as much as possible, with windows and doors closed, to try to keep any smoke from coming inside the home. The AKC also says that if your dog or other pet needs to go to the bathroom, you should take them outside quickly and avoid longer walks.

Pet owners can watch for signs of smoke inhalation, which include coughing, trouble breathing, wheezing, fatigue, reduced appetite and thirst, and red or teary eyes. The AKC also says there is not enough research conducted to "support masks' possible effectiveness with regards to protecting animals."

Uhde also said that she has kept her dog inside as much as possible and is using air purifiers inside her home to help combat any smoke that comes inside.

"I kind of had the idea to make it because yesterday at my kid's daycare the smoke started seeping into the classroom so they asked parents to bring over air purifiers and I had a couple of extras so I actually took them over," Uhde said.

"And while I was driving, I saw a bunch of people walking their dogs outside and they weren't wearing masks and obviously the dogs weren't wearing masks either, so I thought, like, how could you get a dog to wear a mask, and then on the drive home I was thinking about how to do it and came up with that idea."