Hospital Donates Stuffed Dalmatians to Fire Departments

ORANGE CITY, Fla., October 26, 2017 On Oct. 20, Florida Hospital Fish Memorial donated 1,500 stuffed Dalmatian dogs to the Orange City, DeBary and Deltona fire departments. The local fire departments give these stuffed animals to children at accident scenes throughout the year.

This is the seventh year Florida Hospital Fish Memorial has given Dalmatian dogs. Historically, the Orange City hospital gave teddy bears, but transitioned to Dalmatians in 2010.

Dalmatians were originally trained to be coach dogs and run alongside horse-drawn carriages. This training continued as Dalmatians were further trained to run in front of the fire cart, clear a path, and guide the horses-drawn fire engine toward the fire. Even after horse-drawn fire carriages were phased out by motorized fire engines, Dalmatians have remained in firehouses as guard dogs and mascots.

About Florida Hospital Fish Memorial

Florida Hospital Fish Memorial is a member of Adventist Health System, a faith-based health care organization with 45 hospital campuses and 8,200 licensed beds in nine states, serving more than 5 million patients annually. With a mission to extend the healing ministry of Christ, Florida Hospital Fish Memorial has 175-beds and is one of the seven Florida Hospitals in Flagler, Lake and Volusia counties that composes the Florida Hospital Central Florida Division - North Region. As the largest hospital system in the area, the Florida Hospital Central Florida Division - North Region has 1,226 beds and more than 7,800 employees.