The Assembly Judiciary Committee passed Senate Bill 202 Tuesday, meaning the legislation crafted by Sen. Scott Wilk, R-Santa Clarita, will now be considered in the Assembly Committee on Agriculture.
The “Doggie Donor Bill,” as Wilk commonly refers to the bill, seeks to allow for an improved, more humane method of collecting blood donations from animals, according to the bill’s analysis.
“Pets across California run the risk of no available blood when they are in crisis. Our shortage of animal blood has resulted in many people losing a pet simply because blood was not available when the animal was in need,” Wilk said. “This is something that can be remedied and should be. My bill will go a long way toward relieving the shortage, while at the same time providing for a much more humane way to collect blood from animals.”
The senator said that veterinarians rely on animal blood banks to perform transfusions and other life-saving operations in their practices; however, California’s restrictive regulatory framework has limited available options and resulted in only two commercially licensed blood banks.Â
This leaves California pet owners and veterinarians with a limited supply of blood, Wilk said as he shared how the donor animals of the closed-colony facilities are caged for years at a time in order to draw their blood.
Wilk added in the release that SB 202 is a simple solution to the problem because the proposed law will expand the pool of available animal blood donations and allow for volunteer donations from pets.
“Animals should be able to go home after they donate blood, just like people do,” Wilk said. “Allowing for this compassionate method of collecting blood is the right thing to do for all our furry friends. I’m thankful to my colleagues for their support, and I look forward to continuing this work going forward.”
