Stanley, a very good boy, saves other dogs’ lives as a blood donor

CLEARWATER — When he jumped into the car that Sunday, Stanley knew where they were going. He started wagging his tail, and his mouth widened into a grin.

Usually when they go for rides, his sister, another pit bull, comes along.

But when it’s just mom and him, Stanley knows he’s heading to that place where all those ladies in scrubs are always so excited to see him, where he gets to lie on a soft blanket while they rub his belly and tell him he’s a good boy.

He knows there will be treats. Lots of treats.

He has no clue he’s donating blood — and saving other dogs’ lives.

• • •

“OK, buddy, are you ready?” veterinarian Lenore Bacek asked, unclipping Stanley’s plaid collar. She patted a waist-high metal table. “Can you climb up?”

Stanley licked her hand, put his front paws on a chair and hoisted himself up. He lost his back left leg but still hop-runs, gets the zoomies and has strong front legs.

“He has no idea he’s a tripod,” said his mom, Jen Joern, 58.

Stanley knew the drill. Lying on his right side on the tie-dyed fleece, he stretched out his front left foot, which the vet wrapped in purple tape. She pulled out a needle, checked a chart.

“Wow, this is your 17th donation,” Bacek said, “Your three-year anniversary of being a hero.”

While the vet injected Stanley with a sedative, the dog looked to his owner, who was stroking his side. Soon, his eyes closed slightly, his breathing slowed, his chin fell to the table. But his tail never stopped wagging.

“There you go,” the vet said, caressing his neck. “That’s it.”

• • •

Stanley is almost 5. He stands knee-high and weighs 60 pounds. A snowy stripe splits his wide forehead and rings his round nose. He looks like he’s wearing white socks.

When he was six months old, a car hit him in Tampa, tearing his Achilles tendon and severing his left rear femur. The driver took off. A stranger carried the bleeding puppy to an animal hospital, where his leg had to be amputated.

Two weeks later, in September 2020, Jen agreed to foster the timid dog through a rescue group, Passion 4 Pits. She quickly fell in love with the goofy, affectionate tripod who snuggled into her side and wouldn’t stop kissing her. “I could tell right away he was an old soul,” Jen said.

She adopted him and named him Stanley because the Lightning had just won the Stanley Cup. “I’ve had 10 dogs over the years,” Jen said. “He is, by far, the happiest.”

At their home in St. Petersburg, Stanley loves wrestling in the backyard with his sister, Jujubee, and climbing into Jen’s lap whenever, wherever she sits. He chases spiky plastic balls and inhales cheeseburger-flavored Cheetos.

Every three months, on a Sunday morning, Jen drives him to BluePearl Pet Hospital in Clearwater to donate blood. He has contributed a total of more than two gallons so far. Each donation can save three other dogs.

“There’s a desperate need for more donors,” the vet said. As more pet owners bring their animals in for surgery, as animals require transfusions, chemotherapy, plasma, she said, “the demand for blood just keeps increasing. We’re struggling. We need 30% more donors just to keep up.”

• • •

The first successful blood transfusion was not between people.

In 1665, British doctor Richard Lower transferred blood from a healthy dog to revive a dying one, paving the possibility for similar procedures with humans. Two years later, he transfused lamb blood into a person.

Transfusions between humans was tried as early as 1818 but didn’t become widespread until World War II.

Blood transfers between pets began growing a decade later, as veterinarians started bringing their own dogs and cats to their offices when they needed donors. Some even kept animals at their clinics to give blood.

In the 1980s, when vets began sending pets to hospitals for emergency and specialized surgeries, blood banks started emerging, with many high-volume animal hospitals keeping “closed colonies” of cats and dogs as on-site suppliers.

BluePearl operates 110 animal hospitals across 30 states, serving more than 1 million pets. It has 13 blood banks, including one in Tampa. More than 100 dogs and 30 cats donate at that hospital and at offices in Clearwater and Brandon. Ferrets, birds, even bearded dragons also donate blood.

So far this year, across Tampa Bay, more than 502 pet patients have needed transfusions at BluePearl facilities. Some donors are pets of the staff. But many, like Stanley, come because their owners want to help.

Jen heard about dog blood banks 11 years ago in New Jersey, when her bulldog Opie got cancer. She signed up her next dog, Cece, to donate. When she moved to Florida and started working in St. Petersburg’s neighborhood services department, she learned about BluePearl. She has brought three dogs there to regularly give blood.

“It’s important to me to save other doggies,” Jen said. “It takes us less than an hour. Stanley loves the attention. And I know he’s making a difference.” Every time Stanley’s blood is used, she gets an email saying he saved someone’s pet.

To donate, dogs have to be healthy, 1 to 8 years old, weigh at least 55 pounds, be spayed or neutered and have all their shots. They can’t have been pregnant or had cardiac disease. They get free physical exams, lab work, DNA testing – and have annual meet-ups with other dog donors.

Animal breeds have nothing to do with blood type. Pets, like people, have different blood “groups,” and can be positive or negative. But Dobermans can donate to dachshunds, Maine Coons can save calicos — as long as their blood is in the same group.

Cats have A, B or AB blood. Dogs have over a dozen “groups” — six of which are common. About 40% of dogs are universal donors, like Stanley, which makes their blood especially valuable.

• • •

While Stanley snoozed, the vet checked his ears, teeth and nails, then shaved a circle, the size of a quarter, on his throat. Blood flows fastest from dogs’ jugular veins. That’s where she stuck the needle.

“OK, here we go,” she said, scratching his neck. “You OK? You’re such a good boy.”

Blood began to flow through the straw-sized tube, then into a clear bag set on a silver scale. Dogs can donate a pint at a time, cats about 2 ounces.

Fresh blood lasts a month. Frozen plasma lasts forever, and can be transported across the country.

Fifteen minutes after the needle went in, Stanley’s eyes were still half-closed. When the vet pulled out the needle and wrapped gauze around his neck, he barely moved.

But as soon as a tech opened a bag of treats, Stanley suddenly sat up and licked her nose.

“You did great, Stanley,” the vet said, clipping his collar back on. “You just saved some more lives.” When he climbed back into the car that Sunday, Stanley knew where they were going. He started wagging his tail and his mouth widened into a grin.

When they go for rides with his sister, they never go to Sonic.

But when it’s just mom and him, when he has that bandage around his throat, Stanley knows he’s heading to that place where someone comes right up to your window, pats your head, and hands you a hot dog.

To learn more

For more on BluePearl’s animal blood bank, go to: https://bluepearlvet.com/blood-bank/

For your cat or dog to become a blood donor, email BluePearl at: bloodbank.fl@bluepearlvet.com

This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.