Dog blood donation

nisbreagha · #1 03-01-12, 07:24 PM

Thought I'd see what folks on this forum thought about this! It got brought up on another forum I'm on and I've discovered quite a lot about this and I'm not very impressed! Basically if youve not heard of this it's pretty similar to human donation, you take your dog to a donation day, it's tested to see if suitable then the bloods are taken. The sites I've looked at claim to be charities and therefore you are donating your dogs blood for free, however this blood is then sold onto vets for a pretty penny here's an example of what vets pay http://www.petbloodbankuk.org/media/..._list_2011.pdf

I'm pretty sure our vets won't be then giving our dogs this transfusion and not charging us for the blood, so it seems like pet owners are being exploited for their dogs blood so others can profit from it. I do think it's something that is needed as dogs need blood transfusions like us but I don't think I'd be happy about donating my dogs blood for these charities and vets to profit from. Unlike the NHS who do sell the blood we donate to private clinics this money goes back into NHS coffers and we get what procedures we need from NHS for free (or at least kind of as most of us pay tax etc) and if we go private it's our choice, unlike in the pet world where unless you qualify for PDSA help you lay a pretty penny for vet treatment.

So what does everyone else think of this? Who's had to have a blood transfusion on their pet? Did it cost the earth? I'm just interested in this and what to see what everyone else thinks of this issue!

wildmoor · #2 03-01-12, 07:37 PM

Alfe had 2 blood transfusions but the blood was provided by Zandi and my daughters Lurcher so I only got charged for the collection of blood not the actual blood, the vet I use as a list of donors but at the time Alfe required blood no donors were available Zandi is now on the list as they know his type

DelsMum · #3 03-01-12, 08:16 PM

Yep my vet keeps their own list of donors, Del was on it, as we live 2 streets away I said they could call in an emergency at any hour.
I would put JL on there but I doubt they will want him as 6 months of the year he has the preds.........

jc24965 · #4 03-01-12, 08:46 PM

I guess that the charities advertise this so that they can sell the blood on to vets to make money for the charity. You could say that the vets buying the blood are helping the charities by doing this. Is it then wrong to charge for it if they have paid for it?

I know that vets seem to charge a lot (some more than others but maybe a lot of this has to do with area, overheads, etc) but then there is no NHS system for dogs. If we had to pay for our own medical care, it would also be expensive. If you're in a private hospital, you would have to pay for blood.

When I went into a private hospital for an op, they charged for everything right down to a paracetomol tablet which was four times the price I would have paid from a local pharmacy. Luckily I had private medical cover at the time!

nisbreagha · #5 03-01-12, 09:06 PM

I just don't understand how a charity can be exactly that when their main aim is to get blood donations to sell on to vets at a handsome profit, where's the charity in that? What does that charity put that money too? Yes they might use it to process the blood that they then sell on! Is that not a business? Whomgains from this woho gets this charity? We lay for this blood when its required! It's pure profiteering and exploitation of dog owners who will see the words donation and charity and not realise how much money the "Charity" receive for the blood their dog donates!

Yes NHS gets paid for blood from private sector hospitals/clinics however this money as I said earlier is put back into the NHS it's not a money making venture unlike this! I just can't see the charity in this!

Stuart · #6 03-01-12, 09:50 PM

We are a charity, and we ask for donations,.. we pay out to print cards and calendars and sell for a profite,.. without some sort of business sense we would never be able to rehome any dogs.

What I cant see here is what the charity uses the money they get from the vets for? if they are a charity, they must be a charity for something,...otherwise you are right and it is not a charity but a business

TandCs · #7 03-01-12, 10:02 PM

*hangs head in shame* I have never given this any thought but in my defence I`ve only been a dog owner just short of two years... I will now do my own research. Luckily for me my two are full siblings and I can contact their parents owners and other siblings owners ...touch wood this never has to happen.

nisbreagha · #8 03-01-12, 10:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stuart

We are a charity, and we ask for donations,.. we pay out to print cards and calendars and sell for a profite,.. without some sort of business sense we would never be able to rehome any dogs.

What I cant see here is what the charity uses the money they get from the vets for? if they are a charity, they must be a charity for something,...otherwise you are right and it is not a charity but a business

I have to admit I dont know loads about the ins and outs of charity status etc. I do understand that you need to bring money to do your charitable work such as rescuing and rehomeing dogs and all the cost this incurres. In the case of this
Blood donation charity I don't quite understand where the charity in it is other than the pet owners donating their blood. I might be totally missing something and that's why I started this thread to find others opinions as I'm not sure it's a very transparent process and on the face of it it seems that a vet paying them over £340 per 450ml of blood seems like a lot of money and is be keen to know how much someone would pay for a transfusi.
It does come across as more of a business than a charity, but that's just my take on what I've read so far.

jc24965 · #9 03-01-12, 11:33 PM

Seems that this is a charity run by a vet nurse called Wendy Barnett and a Chartered Accountant called Colin Forbes Clarke. From what I can make out, they don't seem to be making any profit from their activities.

They do state on their web site that no profit should be made by vets by placing a mark up on their prices but, obviously, the charity won't have any control over the vets and their charges. The blood won't be free as the vet will have had to pay for it so they are going to pass the costs onto the pet owner.

Blood might be given free to the charity, but the costs involved in collecting and storing it are not free. This is why the charity have to charge for it.

The blood has to be collected, and equipment will be needed to collect and store the blood, premises to rent, council tax, utility costs, telephone, internet, web site hosting, etc, etc. There will always be costs that need covering, whether it is a business or charity.

jc24965 · #10 03-01-12, 11:41 PM

Just to add that the charity is called Pet Blood Bank UK which is run by the business Pet Blood Bank Services Ltd of which the above two names are directors. If charities were not run by people with business sense, they would soon go out of business.