Calling all bloodhounds: These P.E.I. blood donors have four legs and a tail

Dogs are donating blood and saving the lives of canines at the University of Prince Edward Island's Atlantic Veterinary College in Charlottetown.

Mahone, a two-year-old, black, fluffy Newfoundland dog from Prince Edward Island, doesn't know that he and other canine blood donors have saved the lives of fellow pooches that have needed surgery, or have been poisoned. Mahone just does it for the treats.

During separate appointments every three months, Mahone and 20 other dogs visit the clinic at the University of Prince Edward Island's Atlantic Veterinary College in Charlottetown. They are lifted onto a table and laid on their side, before a veterinarian inserts a needle into their jugular vein, collecting about 450 millilitres of blood. The whole process takes about 10 minutes.

"A lot of our donors remember that there's a handful of cookies in the end, if they just lay still on the table for a few minutes. And I think that's what gets a lot of them through their donation," Andrea Jack, co-ordinator of the dog blood donor program at the college, said in a recent interview.

Mahone is very calm while donating blood, Jack said.

Christy Fraser, Mahone's owner, said she's surprised to hear how well he does at the clinic "because he's such a goof at home."

During an interview last week on the Zoom platform, Mahone was at home in Prince Edward Island, dressed in his elf outfit, busy eating a mixture of peanut butter and Timbits out of his Kong -- a hollow chew toy -- that Fraser held in her hand.

"He is a playful, goofy, goofy boy who loves his peanut butter," Fraser said.