Lori Montoya was wrapping Christmas presents and doing laundry on Saturday night when she realized something was wrong with her dog.

What initially looked to be a fitful dream for Max, her 15-year-old Pomeranian/poodle cross, was actually a dangerous seizure. Soon, his heart stopped beating.

“... He just wasn’t there,” Montoya said.

In a panic, she tried calling her vet, but was too distraught to listen to the after-hours options on the answering machine.

“Instead I called 911, freaking out,” Montoya recalled, adding, “I just didn’t know what to do.”

Montoya said she was difficult to understand, but dispatcher Twyla Segura was able to send an officer and get ahold of veterinarian Bryan Neves.

Meanwhile, Montoya began performing CPR on Max, having recently read a Tribune story about a Heart Mountain area dog owner who revived her dog after it drowned.

“I just stuck my mouth over his snout and blew,” Montoya said.

By the time Sgt. Dustin

DelBiaggio arrived, she had Max breathing again. However, the dog still needed veterinary care, and “I couldn’t drive and take care of Max at the same time,” Montoya recalled. So, DelBiaggio gave her a ride to Powell Veterinary Services, where they were met by Dr. Neves. The vet provided a steroid and got Max started on a series of medications. The dog’s life was saved.

Max E. Million, as the pomapoo is formally known, has been with Montoya since 2016 and has been in her family since 2007. Max is her emotional support animal and “goes everywhere I go,” Montoya said; for instance, she recently put him in a sling and took him to the movies.

“He’s perfect,” she said. That’s part of the reason why she’s so appreciative of the efforts made by Segura, DelBiaggio and Neves to save Max.

“I am so very thankful to the three of them,” Montoya said. “I don’t know what I could possibly do to repay them.”

Powell Police Chief Roy Eckerdt said that Saturday’s call, which came in around 8:30 p.m.,  didn’t fall within the job descriptions for his staff. However, “if somebody’s in need, if we have the time to try and help, we will,” Eckerdt said.

He noted that officers recently helped an elderly woman change out a dying battery in a smoke detector at 3 a.m., as she was unable to reach the device and didn’t know what to do. And earlier this year, dispatcher Allison Walsh did some quick internet research to help walk a resident through the steps of providing CPR to a dog.

“People don’t know how much of that stuff we do as opposed to all the people in jail,” Eckerdt said. “It’s not a law enforcement function, but it is part of that community caretaker and that is part of our role.”

Speaking Wednesday, with a happy Max at her side, Montoya was certainly thankful the department lent a hand.

“I believe the Powell Police Department went above and beyond their scope of protecting and serving,” she said. “Sometimes living in a small town can be so worth it.”