The Royal Veterinary College (RVC) has awarded its ‘Blood Donor of the Year Award’ to Fiona Fidler and her team of eight Greyhounds.
Fidler originally joined the RVC animal blood donor programme with the three retired racing greyhounds that she had rescued, Daisy, Nero and Kfir. Since then, she has rescued a further six retired racing greyhounds that have also contributed blood to help multiple sick animals. Hawkeye, Indie, Petal, Kfir, Ludo, Nigel, Nero and Daisy have given over 95 pints of blood in total.
The RVC created its Blood Donor programme at its small animal referral hospital – the Queen Mother Hospital for Animals (QMHA) in 2005 to try to address the demand for dog and cat blood. This demand increases every year, especially given the complexity of the treatments offered at the QMHA – from open-heart surgery to emergency and critical care, and from spinal surgery to cancer treatment.
There are currently around 160 canine donors and 50 feline donors registered at the QMHA.
Fidler said: “Thank you to the RVC for presenting this award to us, it means so much. The RVC provides an excellent and much-needed service with its blood donation programme and I’m glad that my dogs are able to help out other animals in need. I would urge other pet owners to also consider joining.”
Claire Marshall, acting senior blood transfusion RVN at the RVC, added: “The RVC’s Blood Donor Programme is a hugely important part of what we do at the Queen Mother Hospital for Animals. Over the last year alone, hundreds of animals’ lives have been saved at the hospital through blood donations and this number is increasing. We are always on the look-out for new donors so if you think your dog or cat might be suitable please check our criteria online at Blood Donor Programme.”
