Take your dog for walkies to pet blood donor session

Hawthorne Lodge Veterinary Practice, in West Bar Street, will be running a donor session on Tuesday, November 29, for the charity Pet Blood Bank UK, which is particularly in need of more negative supplies.

The charity provides a canine blood bank service for all veterinary practitioners across the UK.

Justin Yates, principal Vet at Hawthorne Lodge Veterinary Practice said: “We are proud to be supporting the great work that Pet Blood Bank UK do by hosting donation sessions. You never know when your pet may need an emergency blood transfusion, which is why it is so important to have blood available at all times. We are appealing for owners of large dogs in the area to register and start helping save the lives of dogs in need.”

Katrina Wilkinson of PBB explains: “Every unit of blood donated helps save up to four lives, saving thousands of lives every year.

“PBB blood type for DEA 1.1 in the UK, and dogs can either be DEA 1.1 Negative or DEA 1.1 Positive. From research, 70% of dogs appear to be positive and only 30% are negative. Moreover, negative can be given to any dog whereas dogs with negative blood type can only receive negative. Therefore the demand for negative blood is higher than for positive, but with less dogs being negative it means keeping up with demand can be challenging.”

Although owners of qualifying dogs with both negative and positive blood are welcome to contact the charity about donating, there is a particular need for negative blood at the moment, which is more common to certain breeds.

Katrina said: “We’re particularly keen to bolster our negative blood supplies so we can help even more sick and injured dogs in the future.

“To keep our negative blood supplies at a healthy level we are particularly looking for Dobermans, Greyhounds, Boxers, German Shepherds, Flat Coated Retrievers, Airedale Terriers, Weimaraners, Lurchers, American Bulldogs, Pointer (English), English Bull Terriers and Mastiffs (various breeds).

“Of course all owners with dogs of negative and positive blood types who meet our criteria would be very welcome to contact us about the session so please get in touch so we can book you in.”

Doggy donors need to meet the following criteria:

Fit and healthy

Between one and 8 years old

Weigh more than 25kg

Have a good temperament

Have never travelled abroad

Vaccinated

Not on any medication

Help save another dog’s life by registering your dog to donate on November 29. Call 01509 232 222 or visit www.petbloodbankuk.org