Blood Donor Dog Retires After More than Four Years, Nearly 38 Pints

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Certified veterinary technician] Abby Jones attends to Rueben, an eight-year-old Labrador retriever who has given 37.6 pints of blood during his four and a half years as a donor to the UW Veterinary Care blood bank. (Photo: Nik Hawkins)

During emergencies, many animals require blood transfusions to get them through the trauma and help them recover from their injuries. The in-house blood bank at UW Veterinary Care is vital to this life-saving work, but it can only function through the generosity of dogs like Rueben and his owners, Dawn and A.J. Brauner of Portage, Wis.

Since he began donating in January 2011, Rueben, an eight-year-old black Labrador Retriever, has given a total of 37.6 pints of blood.

“When you take his size into account, about half that of your average person, that’s the human equivalent of about nine gallons,” says Julie Walker, clinical assistant professor of critical and emergency care.

Rueben and the Brauners have made the trip to UW Veterinary Care at least 40 times for donations, which also represents a significant contribution of time, given that donor animals need to spend the day at the hospital. However, being a donor also comes with plenty of benefits, including free food, preventative medications, routine vaccines, health examinations, heartworm testing, and dental scaling and polishing.

Now that Rueben is getting older and has donated such a significant amount of blood over the years, veterinarians and technicians decided it was best for his health to retire in July. But the Blood Bank is always looking for new canine and feline volunteers.

Learn how your cat or dog can become a donor.

Nik Hawkins