When pets give blood - How Aotearoa’s animal blood donations compare with the rest of the world

Blood donations can be the difference between life and death for pets undergoing emergency treatment, major surgery or suffering from serious illness.

Around the world, countries have developed very different ways of sourcing this life-saving resource. Some rely on community volunteers, others on veterinary-based donor registers. New Zealand stands out for taking a very different approach.

Veterinary blood transfusions are used to treat trauma, poisoning, clotting disorders, immune-mediated disease and surgical complications. Blood is separated into components such as packed red blood cells and plasma, allowing vets to treat animals more precisely and efficiently.

Demand is often unpredictable, which makes maintaining a reliable blood supply one of the ongoing challenges in veterinary medicine.

In Aotearoa, the primary supplier of companion animal blood products is the New Zealand Companion Animal Blood Bank (NZCABB). Unlike many overseas services, NZCABB does not rely on a broad community donor base. Instead, it operates using a closed colony of ex-racing greyhounds housed at a facility and managed specifically for blood donation.

Greyhounds are widely used as donors because many have a blood type that is compatible with a large proportion of other dogs. Their size also allows sufficient volumes of blood to be collected safely.

According to information published by NZCABB, each greyhound may be bled as often as once every three weeks. This blood is then processed into components for sale and distribution to veterinary clinics across the country.

This relatively frequent donation schedule is a defining feature of the NZ model. While it allows for a predictable and controlled supply, it also means the national blood system depends on a small number of dogs housed in kennels donating repeatedly, rather than a large pool of pet animals donating occasionally.

Local Clinic-Level Blood Banks

Many individual veterinary clinics and after-hours hospitals in New Zealand also operate small blood banks or donor programmes. These programmes collect blood from healthy, client-owned pets and maintain local stock or registers for emergency use. These facilities often provide free annual health checks, blood screening for donor animals.

Examples include:

• ARC Vets: Offers a blood donor programme for dogs and cats, with free annual health checks and blood screening for registered pets. Donations support local transfusions.
• Totally Vets: Runs donor programmes at some centres, inviting local dogs and cats to donate safely a few times per year with sedation and monitoring.
• Regional clinics such as Rangiora Veterinary Centre: Maintain small groups of local donor dogs, with donation intervals spaced at least three months apart to safeguard animal welfare.

Clinic-based programmes complement NZCABB by providing rapid access to fresh blood products, especially for emergencies where shipment from the national bank could take time.

United Kingdom: Community Volunteer Donors

In the UK, the Pet Blood Bank operates more like a human blood service. It is a registered charity that recruits thousands of pet dogs whose owners volunteer them as donors. Owners bring their dogs to scheduled donation sessions held around the country.

A key difference is donation frequency. In the UK model, dogs are typically asked to donate around every 8 weeks, with full health checks at each visit. No single dog is relied on to maintain supply, and donation is spread across a very large population.

This approach:

• Broadens the donor base
• Increases blood type diversity
• Builds strong public awareness and participation
• Reduces reliance on repeated bleeding of the same animals

Europe and University-Based Programmes

Across parts of Europe, veterinary blood banks often operate through:

• University veterinary hospitals
• Large referral centres
• Regional clinic networks

These programmes commonly recruit both dogs and cats, with donors living full-time as companion animals in private homes. Donation intervals are usually every 2-3 months, depending on species, size and health status.

Some European services align their processing and quality standards closely with human blood banking systems, including detailed traceability and external audits.

Australia and North America

In Australia, the United States and Canada, most veterinary blood banks are hospital- or clinic-based. They maintain donor registries of local pets and call on them as needed. Donation intervals are generally conservative, often every 2–3 months for dogs, with cats donating less frequently due to their smaller size and more complex blood typing.

While greyhounds are commonly used as blood donors, they are far from the only suitable donors.

Dogs

Most programmes look for:

• Healthy, calm dogs
• Aged roughly 1–8 years
• Weighing 25 kg or more

Breeds often suited to donation include:

• Labradors and Golden Retrievers
• German Shepherds
• Pitbulls and crosses
• Huntaways and other large mixed breeds
• Many other medium-to-large dogs with good temperaments

Some programmes exclude brachycephalic (short-nosed) breeds due to breathing and handling risks.

Cats

Cats can and do donate blood, although fewer programmes recruit them.

• Cats usually need to weigh around 3.5–4 kg or more
• Blood typing is essential, as cats have naturally occurring antibodies that make mismatches dangerous

Because feline donors are harder to source, cats that meet criteria are often especially valuable.

Other Species

Blood donation also occurs in other species, such as rabbits, horses and alpacas, but these programmes are typically managed directly by veterinary hospitals rather than through public donor registries.

Even without a central volunteer programme, pet owners can help:

1. Ask your local veterinary clinic or after-hours hospital whether they run a donor register for dogs or cats.
2. Participate in clinic-based programmes like ARC Vets or Totally Vets, where eligible pets receive free health checks and monitoring.
3. Clinics linked to NZCABB may be able to advise on local donation opportunities.

New Zealand’s greyhound-colony model provides consistency, but it also highlights a broader question: should a national blood supply depend on a small number of dogs donating as frequently as every three weeks, or could moving to a wider, volunteer-based system offer greater resilience, transparency and community involvement?

International experience shows that many countries both with and without a commercial greyhound racing industry have successfully built blood banks and registries based on shared responsibility across the pet-owning public, with longer recovery times between donations for individual animals.

As awareness grows, there is an opportunity for Aotearoa to rethink how companion animal blood is sourced and for everyday pet owners to play a direct role in saving lives.