‘It meant so much to us’

Black Rock woman thanks Cape Breton family whose dog donated blood for puppy

jason.malloy @saltwire.com

@JasonMa47772994

A Black Rock woman has been able to thank the owners of a dog who saved her son’s puppy.

Sarah Bonaparte recently spoke with a Sydney area woman following the story of Duke being published at saltwire.com. Duke was a 17-week-old border collie when he was taken to the Sydney Animal Hospital on May 30.

He required a blood transfusion, and a Sydney area dog was able to be the donor.

Bonaparte shared her family’s story to raise awareness about dogs being blood donors in case it helped save other pets in the future.

After the story was published, officials from the animal hospital reached out to the donor dog’s owners and asked if they were willing to speak privately with Duke’s owners.

Bonaparte said she had a nice chat with the woman, saw a photo of the donor dog and was able to share her gratitude for what the family did.

“It meant so much to us,” Bonaparte said. “I told her right out, ‘I cannot thank you enough; we cannot thank you enough.’”

Bonaparte’s 11-year-old son Wylie lives with his father Rob Bonaparte and Duke in Sydney. Wylie plans to make the donor dog’s owners a card and drop it off at the animal hospital for the family.

Since the initial story was published, Bonaparte said she has had people checking on how Duke was doing and saying they were going to have the discussion with their vet to see if their dog could be a blood donor.

“I had Duke for a week with me and he was just like a whole new dog,” said Bonaparte, who has Duke’s parents. “He is so full of energy now.”