Description

The Government of India has introduced draft guidelines aimed at standardising blood transfusion and blood banking practices for animals. This initiative is expected to strengthen veterinary healthcare by ensuring safer and more efficient emergency treatment for both livestock and companion animals.

Background And Context

India is home to over 530 million livestock, including cattle, buffalo, goats, and sheep, along with nearly 125 million companion animals. The animal husbandry and dairy sector contributes about 30% of agricultural GVA and 5.5% to the national economy. Despite this importance, veterinary blood transfusion in India has remained largely unregulated, with hospitals relying on in-house or client-owned donors without uniform safety standards. The new draft Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) seeks to fill this gap by formalising veterinary transfusion medicine across the country.

Present Challenges

Currently, most transfusions are carried out without standardised blood typing, screening, or storage protocols. This increases the risks of donor mismatching, infections, and unsafe handling. The SOP introduces clear ethical, medical, and scientific norms to bring consistency and reliability to veterinary blood transfusions.

Animal Blood Volume And Blood Group Systems

Animal blood volume generally represents 7–9% of body weight. For example, cattle carry around 55 ml of blood per kg, meaning a cow weighing 300 kg holds about 16.5 litres. Different species have distinct blood group systems:

• Cattle: 11 blood groups

• Dogs: 9 blood groups

• Horses: 8 blood groups

• Cats: 4 blood groups

Accurate blood typing is essential to prevent adverse transfusion reactions.

Donor Animal Requirements

Donor animals must be healthy, disease-free, and meet species-specific standards. Some key conditions include:

• Dogs: 1–8 years old, minimum weight of 25 kg

• Cats: 1–5 years old, minimum weight of 4 kg (not obese)

• Livestock: must follow health and vaccination norms

All donors should be vaccinated (especially against rabies), dewormed, and screened for infections. Female animals cannot donate if pregnant or recently lactating. Donation intervals are regulated – every 4–6 weeks for dogs, 8–12 weeks for cats, with at least a 30-day gap between donations.

Veterinary Blood Banks

The draft SOP envisions blood banks being established at veterinary colleges, referral hospitals, diagnostic centres, and multi-speciality animal hospitals, with round-the-clock operations. Records on donor registration, health tests, collection, processing, storage, transfusion monitoring, and biosafety will be digitally maintained for a minimum of five years.

National Veterinary Blood Bank Network (N-VBBN)

A nationwide Veterinary Blood Bank Network will link all facilities digitally. It will include:

• A central donor registry with species, breed, location, and blood type data

• Real-time inventory management of available blood units

• A helpline and online portal for emergency coordination

• Standardised reporting systems for tracking adverse reactions

Future plans also include a mobile application for quick donor-recipient matching and logistics management.

Ethical Guidelines

The SOP prohibits financial incentives for animal blood donation, promoting a voluntary, non-remunerated donation system. Owners must provide consent for every donation, ensuring transparency and animal welfare. These measures align with international best practices in transfusion medicine.

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