Description and evaluation of a canine volunteer blood donor program

Human volunteer blood donor programs are commonplace, but the concept of nonhuman animal blood banking is relatively new. Few studies exist regarding efficacy, donor screening, and safety for volunteer companion animals. This retrospective study evaluated a nonprofit, community-based canine volunteer donor program using community blood drives. Of 98 potential donors, 14 were ineligible to donate, including 4 who tested seropositive for blood-borne pathogens. Of 84 donors, 45 were Dog Erythrocyte Antigen (DEA) 1.1 positive and 39 were DEA1.1 negative. Donations totaling 143 included 29 repeat donors (35%). No serious adverse events occurred. Minor adverse events included acute donor reaction (2.8%), hematoma (4.2%), rebleeding (2.1%), and skin irritation (0.7%). Adverse event rates were comparable to data for human blood donations. A substantial fraction of donors donated multiple times, suggesting that volunteer donors and their guardians perceived the donation process to be safe and effective. This article discusses the issue of donor consent and use of the term volunteer. This study indicates that nonprofit, community-based canine volunteer donor programs for animal blood banks can be successful while maintaining high safety standards and ethical treatment of volunteers.