Falkirk dog Arnie donates 21 pints of blood to help save sick animals

The nine-year-old English springer spaniel started donating in 2015 after his owner, Rachel McFarlane, read an article in the Falkirk Herald appealing for more doggy donors.

Like humans, dogs can need surgery and that often includes a blood transfusion, with the only restrictions for canine lifesavers being that they must be aged between one and eight, over 25kg, fit and healthy, and not been abroad recently.

Launched 15 years ago, Pet Blood Bank UK is the only charity that provides a blood bank service for all vets across the UK.

Rachel, who owns Scruffy Tails Dog Grooming in Falkirk, said: “After seeing the story in the paper, I contacted Pet Blood Bank to see about signing Arnie up to see if he could help any other dogs.

"A lot of spaniels aren’t big enough to donate, but Arnie is quite big for his breed so the charity was more than happy for him to participate.

"When a dog gives blood it is exactly the same process as if a human was donating and every pint that a dog donates can help up to four other dogs.”

Rachel said that she tells all of her friends and clients about the dog blood donation service as a lot of people are unaware that it even exists.

"It’s amazing the number of people who have never even heard of dogs donating blood,” she said.

“Dogs have two blood types, positive and negative, with positive being the most common.

“The nurses who take blood from Arnie are always really nice – they get to know him before taking any blood. It is a very relaxed and friendly environment for dogs and there are always lots of treats for him.

"It’s an easy process and not stressful at all, and all owners of bigger breeds should definitely look into donating as they need to get it from somewhere."

Rachel adds: “Arnie isn’t the cleverest of spaniels, but he has certainly done a wonderful job over the years – he’s a good boy.”

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