An urgent appeal for dog blood donations has been made by the UCD Veterinary School after a recent surge in demand.
Speaking to the College Tribune, Professor Carmel Mooney said ‘Over the last number of weeks we have had several dogs requiring blood transfusions and while we have a list of regular donors, there were not enough to keep up with demand.’
She added that due to this increase in demand ‘we really need more dogs on our register as potential donors to cope with peaks in demand.’
Professor Mooney told the Tribune that any potential donors dogs must be over 1 year of age and less than 8, although dogs under the age of one can be trialled to get them used to the procedure. Also, the dogs must be healthy and fully vaccinated and wormed and are greater than 25 kg.
The veterinary school need potential donors to live within a reasonable distance of UCD and Are amenable to the procedure and don’t become stressed. Professor Mooney said ‘sighthounds (eg. greyhounds) are great donors because they have more red blood cells than other breeds!’
Should someone wish to contact the UCD Veterinary School about this, Professor Mooney said ‘They will find all details on www.ucd.ie and simply search for blood donor clinic.’
Conor Paterson – Co-Editor
