The gift of life and greyhounds
Congratulations on adopting a greyhound. Not only will your greyhound give you years of love and devotion, but they may also help save the lives of other dogs. Canine blood donors are essential to critically ill or injured dogs. Dogs that are good candidates for blood donation have a friendly temperament, are 55 pounds or over and are from 1 – 8 years of age.
Greyhounds make great blood donors for several reasons:
- They are a large breed dog
- They typically have a universal blood type
- They have a wonderful sweet disposition
- They have a higher percentage of red blood cells than the average dog
- And they have marvelous owners known for their generosity of spirit
The screening process for the blood donor program includes having your dog examined at the veterinary blood bank. Their blood is drawn and sent off for extensive testing and blood typing. If your dog is chosen as a member of the blood donor program, they are typically requested to donate 4 – 6 times a year and to be kept up-to-date on their parasite/heartworm preventative and vaccinations. The benefits of your greyhound becoming a blood donor include a yearly physical exam by a veterinarian, a yearly blood chemistry and infectious blood work panel and yearly heartworm preventative. All these are provided at no cost to you.
Oregon Greyhound Adoption supports local veterinary blood banks by providing blood donor information. This material is included in our adoption packet which is given to every new adoptive greyhound owner.
The best reason to participate in a blood donor program is to help save the lives of other people’s beloved pets!
