Animal Blood Donors Sri Lanka:Saving lives

• Published date: 06 June 2021
• Publication title: Sunday Times

Four legged friends helping each other is the core initiative behind the Animal Blood Donors Sri Lanka initiative begun by Yannina Captain , the director of Justice for Animals organization, who created a platform that would enable blood donation for dogs.

The idea of an animal blood donation campaign dawned after coming across a facebook post requesting for blood to save a sick dog, however by the time she responded the dog had passed away. 'I was quite sad to think that perhaps if I, or someone else had seen the post sooner, the dog may have been saved. That's when I realized there was a lack of cohesive administration when it comes to animal blood donations and in the organization of animal blood products,' said Yannina. As true as these words are, currently veterinary clinics in the country are handicapped in the face of emergencies for blood donation.

Yannina has begun an Animal Blood Donation Project by creating a platform on Facebook named @animalblooddonorssrilanka purely for the purpose of creating a registry for animal blood donors so that in cases of an emergency, a vet or owner is able to match a donor on the registrar to the recipient in need as soon as possible. The group members are capable of registering a suitable applicant animal by messaging the group admin.

As shared by Yannina, animals require blood transfusion similar to humans due to health risks such as anaemia, blood clotting disorders, blood cancers or autoimmune disease, accidents and injuries. As recalled by her once her own dog Bella and another dog named Ralpael saved several lives by donating blood. Her organization transfused blood to two puppies, Daisy and Duke who were diagnosed with Tick fever, Parvo and Mange and where her own...