Dr. Tom Honey is searching for a super dog.
It has to weigh no less than 25 kilograms. It should be friendly, one to eight years old and have all its vaccinations up-to-date. It can be brown, spotted, short-haired or long-haired.
But there’s a key factor that differentiates this hound from the other dogs in the doggie park — it will save lives.
“We are still searching for that universal donor,” the owner of Garibaldi Veterinary Hospital said.
There are eight major blood groups for dogs, one of which is a universal donor — a blood type that can be transferred to any of the other blood types. That’s the Holy Grail. That’s the super dog Honey hopes to find in Squamish.
Every year Honey is faced with situations in which dog blood is needed for the care of his four-legged patients, whether it is due to abdominal surgery or dealing with a trauma such as a pet getting hit by a vehicle. The problem is that dog blood is a difficult commodity to find.
The Vancouver Animal Emergency Clinic in the Lower Mainland has a small blood bank from which other veterinaries can draw. Most of the time, the Squamish hospital ends up relying on frozen plasma. It’s used as a substitute, but unlike blood, it doesn’t contain red or white blood cells. It also doesn’t have the same ability to clot, Honey said.
“Whole blood doesn’t have a very long shelf life,” he added.
As a solution, the veterinary hospital is building a database of its clients’ blood types. In a case of an emergency, hospital staff could call up the pet owner and ask that the dog come in to give blood.
The donors receive a mild sedative and blood is collected from the jugular and run into a specialized bag. The process takes between 30 minutes and an hour. For a dog weighing 25 kilograms, a full bag represents less than 20 per cent of its total blood volume.
“We give them a cookie and a bandana,” Honey added.
Pet owners interested in volunteering their dog to be a donor can make a free appointment with Garibaldi Veterinary Hospital. The dog will have a free examination and a blood sample will be taken. Ideally, the hospital is looking for pet owners that live and work in Squamish. This way they will be able to get to the hospital quickly — with their super dog in tow — during an emergency.
“We got a library of a number of types already, but we are still searching for that universal donor,” Honey said.
“There is someone in Squamish [with a dog] that fits the bill.”
To make an appointment visit www.gvh.ca or call (604) 898-9089.
