Blood Bank For Dogs

If your dog has ever received a life-saving blood transfusion, turn in the direction of Garden Grove, Calif., and give a nod of thanks to Jean Dodds.

Dodds — veterinary hematologist, researcher, lecturer and animal advocate — is the founder of Hemopet, the first non-profit animal blood bank in the world. That makes her, she says, "sort of the grandmother of blood-banking for animals."

In the 1980s Dodds was executive director of the New York State Council on Human Blood and Transfusion Services. After one of her regular meetings with the Red Cross, she had an idea: "I thought, Why the heck don't we have blood banks for animals like we have for people? Like an animal Red Cross?" she said recently by phone. "Wow, of course. And who would do it better than me, since I'd already been doing blood-banking?"

That was the start. It would be several years – planning, paperwork, drumming up interest all took time (in addition to marrying and moving to California) – before Hemopet got rolling in early 1991, "and we've never looked back."

Today, Hemopet has about 50 employees and provides about 14,000 units of blood product over the course of a year (each donation can be broken down into several units). The blood, which has a shelf life of about a month, is banked at repositories around North America and is needed for dogs that suffer a traumatic injury, have blood-destroying diseases or will be undergoing surgery during which there will be excessive bleeding. A unit (about 7 ounces of blood) costs between $85 and $95, Dodds said, with the money going to keep the program running.

Dodds said there are five other commercial blood banks in the country, and several university vet schools have their own small operations. Some veterinary practices also have small blood programs for their own use.

Cadre of canines

Hemopet's blood comes from a colony of 200 donor greyhounds kept at its facility. The animals, former racing dogs that Dodds rescues, donate about twice a month for a year before going into Hemopet's adoption program (http://www.hemopet.org/adoption.html), which places dogs in California only. There's currently up to a two-month wait for people seeking to adopt them.

"We're making a social statement about the inappropriateness of using animals to gain financially or prestige and then dumping them when they don't serve your needs anymore," Dodds said. "That's unacceptable."

Now just roll up your sleeve…

Getting a blood donation from a dog isn't as difficult as one might think. For example: Oliver. A 4-year-old former racing greyhound, he came to Chicago Veterinary Emergency Services to make his first blood donation.

The process was quick and uneventful. Oliver got lifted to the table and placed on his side. A needle, about an inch long, was inserted into his jugular and the blood was drawn into a bag sitting on a small scale. Because of the breed's short hair, shaving isn't necessary. In keeping with the breed's temperament, Oliver was the picture of tranquility and remained perfectly motionless.

When the bag was full, the needle was removed, the puncture mark was wiped and gauze was applied, and Oliver got a colorful wrap to cover the bandage. Then, for him, the best part: the traditional treat of meat-flavor baby food. The benefit for Oliver's owner: The dog gets a free general blood screening, heartworm testing and medication, and flea and tick medication.

Oliver will donate again in a couple of months. As for immediate after-effects, "I don't know if our owners would notice," said Kate Gallagher, the blood bank coordinator at CVES. "Most of our donors are greyhounds, so, Oh my God, he slept 19 hours today instead of only 18!"

Um… cats?
Feline blood donations are not as common. Cats do donate, but they need to be sedated. Generally the donor animals are pets belonging to staff members, rather than clients, although if a client has a cat in need of a transfusion and has another cat at home that fits donor criteria (age, weight, blood tests etc.), that cat may be used as a donor.

Why greyhounds?There are two major blood types for dogs, 1.1 positive and 1.1 negative. The 1.1 positive dogs can donate only to other 1.1 positive animals; the 1.1 negative blood can go to any other dog, said Kate Gallagher, blood bank coordinator at Chicago Veterinary Emergency Services.
Because 70 percent of greyhounds at 1.1 negative, they're high on the donor list,
Another reason greyhounds are great donors, she said, is "because they have a high metabolism and are athletic. Their red blood cell count is higher than other animals."

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