Police dog blood doner saves Cocker

A German Shepherd Dog has saved the life of an anaemic Cocker Spaniel by being the first police dog in Scotland to take part in a blood transfusion.

The eight-year old Spaniel owes his life to Zak, the canine copper, because he would have died without the transfusion according to staff at Broadleys Veterinary surgery in Stirling. Zak belongs to a group of 15 Central Scotland police dogs registered as blood donors.

‘If one of our dogs was injured in the line of duty we’d expect there to be blood supplies to assist,’ said dog section sergeant Cameron Shanks. ‘It seems only right that our dogs give something back that will help others.’

Zak’s handler, PC Eric Carbis, says that Zak is fit and well and has suffered no side effects from the procedure. The whole procedure took four hours as Zak had to be sedated so he would lie still,’ he adds. ‘But taking the blood only took 20 minutes. He was out of action for the rest of the day but he was back at work the following day,’

Speaking on behalf of the Spaniel Yvette McGrotty, specialist veterinary surgeon at Broadleys, says ‘had this not happened the dog in question would most certainly have died. He is now hopefully on the road to making a full recovery.’