At Pet Blood Bank, we believe that breed specific legislation is in no way an assessment of an individual dog. However, as a banned breed, XL bully type dogs are unable to donate because of their legal requirement to wear a muzzle in public. This means they would need to be muzzled during the donation process, which can compromise their welfare and safety.
Our team must be able to easily check the gum colour of the donor throughout their appointment and must be able to quickly access their mouth and airway in an emergency situation, which would be slowed down if a muzzle had to be removed. Even if the muzzle is well fitted and doesn’t cause the dog any discomfort or stress, wearing one affects the ability of our team to closely monitor your dog and their welfare, which is a vital part of the donation process.
We are unable to remove the dog’s muzzle during the donation process. This is due to us operating from a large number of veterinary practices, each with their own policies. Therefore, we need to have a policy in place that works for our team across all the venues that we run our donation sessions from. Our policy is for those dogs who donate blood through the blood bank and so might be different from that of a veterinary surgeon carrying out essential veterinary treatment for your dog or of vets who are taking blood in an emergency situation.
We have adopted our XL bully policy after much thought and consideration to ensure that these already scrutinised breeds are not placed in a compromising position unnecessarily, and to keep everyone, including these dogs, safe.
We appreciate this news will be disappointing but, as always, we must put the welfare of our donors at the heart of what we do. There are still many other ways you can continue to support the charity – spreading the word, fundraising, and volunteering are all wonderful ways to keep making a difference.
