Oakley, director of the Penn Animal Blood Bank bloodmobile, and Prager travel as far as an hour away from the Penn campus to collect blood from volunteer dogs. The specialty of animal transfusion medicine is a relatively new concept, and its emergence necessitated the opening of the Veterinary Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania's blood bank for dogs. On this day, Oakley and Prager were headed for Newark, Del., where the local veterinary clinic has organized a blood drive. It arrives ahead of time at the clinic, much to the delight of the event's organizer, Erin Vicari, a veterinarian. Soon the dogs and their owners come in, one after the other, every 15 minutes.
Today is slightly unusual.
Often, Oakley collects blood from dogs in hunt clubs or the homes of true animal lovers where she knows which dogs carry the correct blood type. About 1,500 dogs are enrolled as regular donors. But today at the clinic, Oakley and Prager will have to type all the dogs because they are first-time donors. Penn Animal Bloodmobile collects blood from about 1,500 regular volunteer donors. More than a dozen different blood types have been recognized in the dog, so Oakley and Prager are looking for blood that is compatible with all types.