Many people know about blood drives for people, but some may not know that dogs also donate blood to help save other dogs.

One dog named Bean has made five blood donations so far. He can help up to three dogs with each donation at the Mount Laurel Animal Hospital’s Blood Bank.

“We actually have one large dog that will require five donors just to get him stabilized and through surgery,” says Deb Consiglio with the hospital.

With an increase in people adopting or purchasing dogs during the pandemic, the hospital says that the need for dog blood has also increased. But finding donors can be tricky.

“When you say something, ‘Oh yeah, my dog is going to give blood today,’ [people are] like, ‘Wow, your dog gives blood? What do you mean?’ It’s fun to explain it now to people, like what happens and people don’t think about the fact that when we get hurt and we need blood, there’s thousands of people that give blood every day. [Dogs] don’t have that luxury,” says Michael Warner, of Pennsville.

To donate blood, dogs must be between 55 and 150 pounds and 2 to 6 years old. The whole process takes less than 30 minutes.

"We are a fear-free hospital, so we like our dogs to be very comfortable. Basically, if they can lay on a table for five to 10 minutes and just enjoy getting belly rubs. They got a little bit of hair shaved on their neck. We also do a lidocaine block so that it doesn't hurt when we actually do the blood collection and then they get lots of treats, snacks, whatever they like,” says Consiglio.

Pet owners say that they love that their pets can help.

"It's amazing. I'm like the beaming parent when he comes outside, like he just kicked the winning soccer goal. He's my hero,” says Kim Teitelman, of Mount Laurel.

Mount Laurel Animal Hospital says pet blood screenings and donations can be done year-round.