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Your beloved pet - a blood donor???You betcha. All around our nation, there are sites where dogs can donate blood. The practice of collecting blood, maintaining a blood bank, and making blood products available to Veterinarians is a relatively new concept. There are now several regional animal blood banks that supply canine blood products to Veterinary hospitals. Most opened for business within the past decade. Before our time of organized canine blood donations and centers, most vets used their own dogs or dogs belonging to their staff members or clients as donors. Some regional blood banks house the dogs they use for blood collection in their own onsite kennels. The Veterinarian's Blood Bank in Indiana, The Animal Blood Bank in California and Hemopet, also in California, all have resident canine donors. The dogs are mostly retired racing greyhounds and dogs from shelters, whom otherwise would likely have been euthanized. These banks use the dogs as blood donors for a specified amount of time, then look for permanent, forever homes for their retired donors. Many other blood banks depend upon “the kindness of strangers” - volunteer blood donors. The Penn Animal Blood Bank, was the very first to organize and use volunteer canine donors. There are several other regional blood banks throughout the country. Some larger animal hospitals supply and maintain their own blood supplies. Often times these clinics as well are searching for volunteer donors. As with human donations, the blood can be broken down into blood products – not always is the need for a whole blood transfusion. In this way, as with human donations, one donation can assist more than one animal in need. Below are more clinics that may be in need of canine blood donors: The requirements for a canine blood donor may vary from agency to agency, but the majorities are looking for a healthy dog, at least 1 year in age, and at least 35 lbs. The dog should be friendly, have a gentle temperament and be able cooperative during veterinary exams. The experience itself is wonderful for the dog, despite the needle involved!! |
