Halifax donation centre looking for four-legged friends to become blood donors

In this week's Pet Talk, Crystal Garrett meets a dog names Lulu, who is doing her part to help other dogs during medical emergencies.

It turns out humans aren’t the only ones who can donate blood to help others in need.

The Canadian Animal Blood Bank launched its blood donation program for dogs on Jan. 1 in Halifax.

“It allows us to collect blood from local dogs and have a good supply for the East Coast,” said Ariana Pierre with the Canadian Animal Blood Bank.

With demands for dog blood donations on the rise, the centre is now working on spreading the word to find more donors.

However, your four-legged friend must meet the following requirements to be eligible to donate:

- be between one and eight years of age

- be above 55 pounds

- be up-to-date on vaccines

- be generally healthy

If eligible, the clinic will check the dog’s blood type, as well as for tick and heartworm disease.

“If they’re healthy we go along with the donation,” Pierre said.

Pierre says dogs can fall under two blood types: positive or negative.

“The negative blood group is able to donate to all dogs. That makes up about 40 per cent of dogs,” said Pierre. “A positive one can receive all blood, so that’s 60 per cent of dogs. Still very much needed.”

During the donation process, Pierre says the dogs are fully awake and blood is taken from their largest vein possible.

“We actually take the blood through their neck … it keeps them the most comfortable,” she said. “It takes about three to five minutes to do the donation.”

Donation dogs also don’t leave emptyhanded.

“They get a free blood product per donation for life. That’s just something they can fall back on if they ever need it,” said Pierre. “They also get a donor tag … and they also get a bandana.”

Dogs are able to donate blood every three months.

Pet owners who are interested in registering their dogs can do so through their veterinarian, or by visiting the Canadian Animal Blood Bank’s website.

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