Animal blood donation website goes live today

Hyderabad: We have so far heard of blood banks for humans and frantic calls to the public to donate blood generously. But a youth in the city made a step forward and thought of similar venture for animals, which is all set to be launched on Friday, the World Blood Donors Day.

The website would list canine and feline donors from 135 cities in India along with pet details and contact details of their pet parents. Pet parents in dire need of blood for their dogs and cats may contact their donor counterparts in the same city through the website.

During medical emergencies like accidents, surgery and other diseases conditions, canine and feline animals are in need of blood. However, there are few animal blood banks in the entire country. Thus, they could meet only a very small fraction of the demand and pet owners are often unable to find blood donors in time.

Keeping this dire need in mind and with the sole aim of facilitating blood donations for animals, this website seeks to come to rescue of animals in plight, meet needs for blood donation.

"There is only one blood bank in the country for animals, in Chennai, run by Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University. However, a couple of years ago a report came about another such facility being set up in Odisha but the demand for such services far surpasses the capacity of these banks.

I am a pet parent and an animal welfare activist and I get at least 30 calls per year from other pet parents seeking donor blood. I came upon this idea after encountering several instances where pets and stray animals died of loss of blood, either due to diseases or due to injuries.

Due to the absence of donors, sometimes veterinarians too hide the fact from parents that blood transfusion could save their pet. In fact, a majority of the parents do not even know their pet's blood group, and the test to find out the group costs thousands of rupees," said Shiva Kumar Varma, founder of the Animal Blood Line.

"From my visits to other cities, I have learned that the issue is all prevalent and needs to be addressed. We are in the stone age as far as blood donation for pets goes," added Shiva Kumar.

Shiva Kumar is one among the founders of Animal Blood Line and an animal welfare activist from Hyderabad. He had nurtured a passion towards animal activism since childhood and did months of extensive research before launching the website and was successful in roping in six other like-minded people from different cities which include veterinarians and activists who played a major part in designing the website.

The registration on the website will begin after its launch on Friday. Pet parents across 135 cities can log on to www.animalbloodline.org and register their pet details and further information.