Pet Blood Bank is, amazingly, the only charitable blood bank that is exclusively animal-focused. The current blood donation is for alpaca and dog blood. A request for cat blood is currently being made. Pet Blood Bank offers blood transfusions and other blood products. These include platelets and blood plasma as well as a fresh platelet concentrate. T
hese medical supplies are necessary to address “a spectrum of chronic diseases and crises from anemia and hemophilia to rat bait poisoning,” according to The Guardian.
“Demand is high and continuing,” says Wendy Barnett, the former veterinary nurse who built Pet Blood Bank in 2007. Apparently, having a dog’s blood supply wasn’t always so simple. The law changed in 2005 to allow for the collection, storage, and distribution of pet blood.
Donating essential medical supplies
Like people, dogs have a variety of blood types. Depending on whether DEA1 testing is positive, or negative, blood is divided into two categories. One in three dogs that test negative for DEA1 antigen are universal donors. This is the blood Wendy mentions being in high demand.
Therefore, the blood bank is eager to draw blood from certain breeds that are more likely be DEA1-negative. “German Shepherds, Dobermans, Flat-Coated Retrievers, Greyhounds, and Boxers” are among the breeds covered by this; yet, they will draw blood from any dog under certain restrictions. Dogs must be at least 25kg, housebroken, and between the ages 1 and 8.
Five Pet Blood Bank donation stations are available in England and Scotland every week. The appointments include a quick checkup and belly rubs, while staff take 450ml of blood. Afterward, dogs get a ‘biscuit of the week’ and choose between a squeaky or raggy toy to take home. According to Barnett, “It takes about 10 minutes and a lot of dogs just wag it out on the table.”
Save Lives
Pet Blood Bank’s work is directly saving pets’ lives across the UK. Milo, a Cavalier King Charles SpanielHe received an emergency transfusion when he was admitted to the Small Animal Teaching Hospital in Liverpool. His parent, Gwyneth Melling, said, “ If he hadn’t got that blood on the first day he wouldn’t have survived.”
Source: Yahoo!Life
