08/30/2026
It Takes More Than a Blood Donor — It Takes a Family
Meet Puck, Ovechkin, and Chevy. ❤️
Recently, we needed blood for a critically ill patient. At the time, our blood supply had already been depleted after blood products from Chevy’s donation the day before were used to help another critically ill pet who needed a transfusion.
So, we made a call.
And at midnight, Puck and his family came in.
Puck, one of our amazing canine blood donors, donated fresh blood when it was needed most.
But the need for blood continued.
The next night, another call went out — and at 9 PM, Ovechkin and his family came in to help too.
We talk a lot about how incredible our blood donor dogs and cats are — and they absolutely are. They come into the hospital, donate their blood, get some extra love and snacks, and help save animals they’ll probably never meet.
But there’s another part of our donor program we don’t talk about enough:
The people on the other end of those phone calls.
The families who hear, “We have a patient who needs blood,” and are willing to drop what they’re doing, load their pet into the car, and come to the hospital.
Sometimes during dinner. Sometimes late at night, after everyone has already gone to bed.
They don’t know the patient. They don’t know the family. They may never even know the full story of the animal their pet helped.
They just know that someone else’s pet needs them.
And they come.
Our blood donor program helps us care for some of our sickest and most critical patients. But when demand is high, we rely on an incredible group of donors and the families who make those donations possible.
To Puck, Ovechkin, and Chevy: you are very, very good boys. ❤️
To their families: thank you for answering our calls, changing your plans, getting out of bed, and sharing your incredible dogs with patients who need them. We truly could not do this without you.
This is what community looks like.
