Instead , dog owners were concerned about inflicting unwanted stress on their animals . Additionally , the data revealed that some owners were anxious about venepuncture in the jugular vein . This reservation can probably be attributed to a lack of knowledge , as owners are unlikely to realise that this vein is commonly used for venepuncture .
This study was open to all dog owners , rather than just owners of current canine blood donors , which enabled respondents to voice their individual concerns . Interestingly , animal welfare was not commonly cited as a deterrent to blood donation in this study , compared with previous research by Wilder and Humm [ 2 ] . Just one respondent referred to animal welfare as a barrier to volunteering their dog to the service , commenting that they were ‘ not convinced by the ethical argument to take blood from donor dogs ’. The author expected this opinion to be more common , as dogs are unable to consent to the procedure , which can pose an ethical dilemma . Research by Flanagan [ 16 ] concluded that many human blood donors are motivated by benevolence and the idea that both the donor and recipient may mutually benefit from blood donation . This concept can also be considered in canine blood donation , as donor dogs may themselves benefit from a blood transfusion in the future . This was reflected in the author ' s results , as 122 ( 75.8 %) participants said that the hope of ‘ saving another dog ' s life ’ would increase their desire to donate in the future .
Another factor affecting the participants ' motivation to donate blood was the location of donation sessions , with 42.9 % of respondents stating they would consider volunteering their dog if there were more local sessions . The author did not expect to see such a high proportion , as PBBUK runs sessions in 60 locations across the UK , although Scotland is less well covered than England . According to the geographical distribution of the participants ( Figure 2 ), compared with the geographical distribution of PBBUK donation sessions ( Figure 3 ), the majority of the respondents were within an area covered by PBBUK .
However , the author did not initially realise that some highly populated towns and cities , such as Aberdeen , Dundee and Inverness , do not have access to PBBUK donation sessions . This could be for several reasons : possibly because their geographical location presents a barrier to transporting the donated blood to the PBBUK processing centre in Loughborough ; and possibly because it would only be financially viable to transport blood products from these locations if the number of donations were sufficient .
Additionally , the result may be higher than expected because dog owners are not aware of the locations of the PBBUK donation sessions . This could again relate to a lack of PBBUK advertising , which could be improved , as the author has already discussed .
Figure 2 . Geographical distribution of participants ( n = 154 ), in 25 districts ( red markers ) across the UK .
Figure 3 . Geographical distribution of pet blood bank donor sites ( n = 60 ) in the UK , as stated by PBBUK in 2020 .
40 Veterinary Nursing Journal