Brenda Barnette, CEO of the Seattle Humane Society makes a weekly appearance on KOMO 4 TV news, and occasionally we'll be featuring her notes from the TV spots. This week, she spoke about the need for canine blood donors and the fantastic program we have here in Seattle at Animal Critical Care and Emergency Services (ACCES).

You may have read about the animal blood bank in the last week, or in 2005. I first heard about the program a few months back and took my big guy, Max into be evaluated as a blood donor. The ACCES staff was great with Max, and I really appreciated the time they took making his evaluation a positive experience for both of us. In the end, his evaluator thought he was probably a little too nervous for the program, but she encouraged me to bring him back when he's a little older and calmer. I'm planning on it.

Lynn
lynnseattlehumane@gmail.com

Notes from the CEO: Four Legged Blood Donors: Blood Hounds

Animal blood products can be purchased from nationwide blood banks. However due to increasing awareness of the life-saving nature of transfusions, blood products can sometimes be backordered for several weeks. In order to insure that our community will have blood and plasma on hand at all times, the Animal Critical Care Vets started a COMMUNITY BLOOD DONOR PROGRAM. They are looking for dogs who would like to donate blood to participate in their program.

In their first 12 months of operation, 140 animals needed and received blood and plasma transfusions. Transfusions were given to both cats and dogs.

Reasons animals needed blood included:

• Traumatic injuries
• Exposure to rat poison which causes excessive bleeding
• Surgical blood loss
• Bone marrow problems
• Immune-mediated blood problems
• Congenital clotting disorders including von Willebraund's disease

Appropriate donors are:

• Between 1-5 years of age
• Over 55 lbs
• Good temperament (will lie still for 10 minutes and are not afraid of veterinarians)
• Healthy
• Not on any medications
• Free of infectious diseases
• Willing to commit to 3-4 donations a year for 2-3 years

Owners are not paid, but donors are blood typed and screened for infectious diseases. A complete physical examination is performed prior to each donation. Donors receive lots of treats and toys during each donation to make it a fun experience for them.

Dogs have two major blood types: positive and negative. Dogs with positive blood can accept either negative or positive blood. Dogs with a negative blood type can accept only blood from other negative donors.

Cats can be blood donors too. They are sedated during the process.

If you are interested in this life-saving program, contact the Animal Critical Care Blood Bank:

http://www.criticalcarevets.com/bloodbank.html
Telephone: (206) 364-1660
Email: info@criticalcarevets.com

11536 Lake City Way NE, Seattle, WA 98125.

Brenda F.Barnette
Chief Executive Officer
Seattle Humane Society