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Canine Blood Bank—Boxers to the Rescue!!
Each day, countless canine lives are saved due to blood transfusions.
The recipients---who once faced death---can soon be back on their
four feet, wagging their tails behind them.
The donor dogs, who are considered heroes in the Oklahoma
veterinary community-----are Boxers!!!!
In Tulsa Oklahoma, area dog lovers are lucky to have a national
non-profit canine blood bank.
Sunchase Boxers and other Boxer friends are saving puppies with
Parvovirus, adults with Ehrlichia and many other critically ill canines.
The demand for blood has increased significantly with the growth
in the number of dogs and the related increase in owners requesting
life-saving measures for their animal companions. The Blood Bank
utilizes over 50 local Boxers for blood and plasma and still cannot meet
the demand.
Tracy Hendrickson, a medical technologist, along with her Boxers (under
the kennel name of Sunchase) has been providing this much needed service
for over 12 years. The
canine blood bank is a non-profit division of Veterinary Diagnostic
Laboratories, which Tracy established 24 years ago.
This is one of a handful of commercial animal blood banks in the
US. Blood is banked (stored)
at the laboratory or the Animal Emergency Clinic until requested by a
veterinarian.
Blood and plasma products are used in a wide variety of medical problems
including trauma, autoimmune destruction of red blood cells, poisoning
by rat baits and inherited disorders of blood clotting.
Many veterinarians will have blood on hand in case a patient
looses a large amount of blood during an involved surgical procedure.
The Boxers are well cared for family pets, in excellent health and
disease free. Each dog is
typed and screened for infectious parasites as well. Boxers are
excellent and unique donor dogs because they all blood type as
“universal donors”, have great veins and meet the weight requirements.
All dogs must weigh at least 50 pounds, be 1-8 years old and have
a gentle disposition. Blood can be collected from each dog once a month.
Most dogs sit quietly for about 5 minutes while donating, getting
their ear scratched, and are heavily rewarded afterwards with biscuits.
The dogs are never tranquilized. The worst part for the dogs is
not the needle in their jugular vein; it is the smell of the alcohol
used to clean their skin.
Male dogs usually donate a pint (450 cc’s) each time, which is then
separated into two components—plasma and packed cells.
Females donate about 300 cc’s and their unit remains as whole
blood. Units of packed cells and whole blood can be stored for up to 35
days and plasma products up to 4 years.
Hendrickson says that over 200 veterinarians have used thousands of
units of whole blood, plasma or packed cells.
In the past, many clinics had to keep their own donor dogs.
Today, they would rather use a commercial entity, preserving
their cage space for other purposes.
Providing a blood and plasma service is not the only way Sunchase Boxers
lends a hand to the veterinary community.
Proceeds from the blood products benefit Tulsa Boxer Rescue and
other local animal welfare groups.
Tracy feels that her dogs have given her so much, that it is her
moral obligation to give back to her community and help financially
rescue boxers in this way.
Many know Tracy as the founder and past president of the American Boxer
Rescue Association. She was
also awarded the ABC’s Good Sportsmanship Award in 2003.
Her devotion to rescue and Boxer performance has made Sunchase
Boxers “real heroes” in the Boxer world today.
Tracy can be reached at
Brindoll@cox.net for comments and questions
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