I had first heard about the new UC Davis Animal Blood Bank a few months ago when they had their grand opening. I'm a member of a couple of local dog-lover groups, and the e-mails about the program were flying back and forth amongst the members. Some were for it and some had their normal "dog parent" concerns, like "is this something my dog could tolerate?", "could he get sick?" and more.but everyone seemed pretty open minded.

I was one of the supporters, and after going over the list of criteria they were looking for in a blood donor dog, decided I should take my dogs in to be screened during their grand opening screening blitz. But, the date was a conflict for me, so like everything else that isn't immediately pressing in my face (making lunches, doing dishes, laundry, vacuuming, bills to pay, kids to get to school, practice, play dates.you name it, all while trying to run my own small pet-sitting business), it fell to the list of things I'd like to do when I have time. But then, my editor asked, "could you write a story about this program"? I jumped at the opportunity, and thought, "maybe it would help ease the minds of those concerned dog parents, to walk through the process with another extra-loving, over-protective dog mother," and I quickly set up an appointment for my two dogs, Murphy and Goldie, to be screened.