A dog named Riley has helped save the lives of hundreds of other dogs simply by donating his blood. The eight-year-old dog has been donating blood regularly since was he was a year old.
When Riley was a year old his owner, Deanna Wilson, registered Riley with a blood donation program. For the past seven years he has given blood every six weeks. That is the time frame veterinarians recommend dogs wait between donations.
Riley was a slightly nervous his first time donating, but every time since has been comfortable with the process and actually gets excited to donate.
“The first visit he spent in my lap – he was just a little unsure about what was going on and they just took a small sample for testing,” said Wilson. “Ever since then he has been fine and happily follows the vet out to the room. When he thinks we’re going to donate he starts barking in the car close to the vet office in excitement.”
Riley gets so excited that he pulls Wilson into the donation room and if he has to wait for another dog to finish he barks wanting to take his turn.
Dogs typically donate between 230 and 430 cubic centimeters of blood. A dog that has donated as many times as Riley could have saved somewhere between 112 and 224 dogs.
Riley will probably donate blood for another year, and stop when he turns nine-years-old.
“We’re so proud to think of all the other dogs he has been able to give a longer life to,” said Wilson.
