India has released its first national guidelines for animal blood transfusion, addressing a long-neglected gap in veterinary healthcare. With dogs having 13 blood groups and limited donor awareness, mismatched transfusions have often proved fatal. The new SOPs aim to regulate procedures, boost safety, and improve survival chances for pets and livestock alike.
Pet parents are no strangers to frantic calls and social media posts seeking blood donations for dogs suffering from severe anaemia, tick fever, injuries from accidents, or complications after surgery. But most of the time, finding a donor is nothing short of a miracle. Thousands have often lost their four-legged companions due to instances where mismatched blood types proved fatal. Dogs have as many as 13 different blood types, making it a challenge to get a suitable match. Often, the absence of regulation and the unavailability of blood or plasma costs dogs and their lives.
Not just dogs, even for farm animals, which are of great value to farmers, such as cows, buffaloes, sheep, and goats, blood transfusions can be life-saving, as they often suffer blood loss from road accidents or parasitic diseases that necessitate the procedure.
However, the government has now formally acknowledged the need for blood transfusion and blood bank facilities for companion animals and livestock.
On the eve of International Dog Day, the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying (DAHD) under the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying released the country’s first ‘Guidelines and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for Blood Transfusion and Blood Banks for Animals in India’.
The move is expected to streamline the process of donor selection, blood collection, component processing, storage, transfusion procedures, and monitoring, while ensuring ethical and safety safeguards.