TAMAR Vets in Bude are looking for a new blood donor dog after the retirement of Raven.

Raven, an eight-year-old German Shepherd, is now too old to continue in the role and instead will carry on his community work with his owner Tony Powley, who explained Raven’s journey, what the future holds and what Tamar Vets need from their new donors.

Tony said: “My wife Caroline and I took him on at 11 months and he was a bit of a wildchild. I was his fourth home, but basically he wasn’t being exercised or mentally stimulated. After six months of hard training he became a Pets As Therapy dog and when our old dog Rex passed away, Raven took over the visiting of three of the local schools and some of the local care homes.

“He donated his first pint of blood at 18 months and has donated about ten pints in total with his last being in January of this year.

“All the dogs we have donated to have survived. Some of the dogs had eaten rat poison on farms and therefore their blood became anaemic and couldn’t make enough proper blood cells and therefore they need a transfusion of blood so that the vets can continue treatment. They need to stabilise the blood count so they can go onto other treatment.

“The other times we’ve been called out are for other dogs falling off cliffs. One of the last ones, the dog was a little whippet who broke three ribs in a fall and punctured one of the lungs and therefore needed an emergency blood supply, again to stabilise and then get better.”

A Tamar Vets spokesperson said: “We love Raven and he always gets a treat when he comes in to see us. Although these are very big shoes to fill, we are now looking for other dogs with amazing temperaments (and owners) who would be available to help out the next time one of our patients needs a transfusion.”

So what does a dog need to have to be a suitable blood donor at Tamar Vets?

• Need to be between the age of one and eight

• Of lean body weight over 25kilos

• Fit, healthy, neutered and up to date with vaccinations

Tony added: “The dog needs to be calm and not scared of needles. You take the dog in, they shave the hair and neck by the big vein before they clean the bare skin and put a needle into the vein and the blood is passed through a tube into the bag.

“They normally take around a pint of blood and then the dog is to be kept quiet for an hour or so afterwards.”

While Raven won’t have have to worry about having a needle stuck in his neck every few months, he’ll still continue to work hard.

Tony added: “He’s only retired from donating blood, he’ll carry on doing his therapy work in the schools as that’s important to us. We work with special educational needs and disabilities children.

“We do a scheme called Read2Dogs for children with reading problems, and come into into the library where the children write to the teacher and Raven.

“They also interact with him by stroking him and playing with him and they reward him by giving him a biscuit. The children really look forward to the sessions.

“I work at three schools — Stratton, Bude Infants and Bude Juniors — where I also work with a group of talented and dedicated teachers. As I’m a dog handler, I support the teachers in what they want us to do. I’d also like to thank my wife Caroline for all her support.”