NAIT recruits canine blood donors

NAIT’s Animal Health Clinic in partnership with the Canadian Animal Blood Bank, is hosting canine blood drives twice a month on campus. The collected products are distributed across the province to help the blood shortage.

“Essentially what CABB does is we take blood from dogs, just the same way humans would donate blood. That blood then goes to the emergency veterinary hospitals around Edmonton, Calgary, Red Deer and even as far away as Vancouver,” said Dustin Porterlance, registered veterinarian technologist, at Northern Alberta Institute of Technology.

Porterlance says that the donation process is easy and no sedation is necessary.

“The dogs need to be at least 25 kilograms or 55 pounds, in relatively good health and between the ages of one and eight,” said Dustin Porterlance.

While the entire appointment takes 30 minutes, the donation itself only takes three to four minutes. NAIT’s Animal Health Clinic is encouraging owners to register their dogs to save more lives.

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