Victoria woman campaigns for canine blood donations, awareness

A Victoria woman has launched a campaign to raise awareness of a province-wide shortage of canine blood.

Kady Savard posted a plea to the Facebook trading page “This for That” asking for dog blood donations after her good friend’s dog, Angus, was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease.

“It’s called thrombocytopenia and it means that his immune system is attacking his platelets,” said Angus’ owner, Kimberly Tamblyn.

The only way to treat the six-year-old Rottweiler is with several blood transfusions, but at the time there was only one unit available on Vancouver Island.

“You really don’t know about the need until you’re going through something like this, unfortunately,” Tamblyn said.

Thanks to the Facebook post, word began to spread online.

“So many people came forward,” Savard said. “Some that were registered dog donors and some that were not yet registered but were passionate about helping in any way that they could.”

Angus was able to get two blood transfusions, one with the available unit and the other with a registered donor dog via a live transfusion.

Dr. Erinne Branter said dogs must meet certain criteria in order to become a donor.

“Much like humans you have to be an adequate body weight,” Branter said. “Secondarily, you have to be healthy.”

Owners can consult with their veterinarians to see if their animals will qualify.