Dog blood donations needed across Canada for emergency procedures

Veterinary students and staff at NAIT prepare Scotty for a blood donation on Saturday, April 1, 2023 (CTV News Edmonton/John Hanson).

The Northern Alberta Institute of Technology hosted a special blood clinic Saturday to refill the supply for canines.

For the past 20 years, students and faculty at NAIT have participated in the Canadian Animal Blood Bank (CABB), which collects donations for canines requiring transfusions for emergency procedures.

"The blood bank is not very well known, even in the veterinary community," explained Dustin Portelance, a registered veterinary technologist and CABB coordinator.

"Part of working with CABB at NAIT is that we, our students, are graduating with the knowledge that this program exists," Portelance added, "and we are trying to get ourselves into as many clinics as possible to get as many donors as possible so that way we have more blood in our banks."

NAIT acts as a satellite collection site for the program. CABB also offers mobile drives throughout the year in the Edmonton area and Grande Prairie.

"As much as we love our smaller friends, we need our bigger friends," Portelance said.

"Bring all your furry friends that fit our criteria. If you have furry friends at home that doesn't fit, but you know somebody that does, for sure, tell them about us."

To donate, dogs must be over 25 kilograms, have up-to-date vaccinations and have a good temperament.

There are nine known canine blood types, with Dog Erythrocyte Antigen (DEA) 1.1 – which comes in negative and positive – being the most common. The universal donor type is DEA 1.1 negative.

Paul Wilcox's purebred Boxer, Scotty, has been a long-time donor.

"This is his 11th donation," Wilcox said. "His mother just retired here after nine donations. I'm very proud of them."

"Without that [donation], there's going to be dogs that need it and can't get it. And you'd hate like hell to see them die on the table because they couldn't get the blood."

For more information, visit the CABB website.