VIDEO: How PETA Found a Home for a Hound Exploited by a Blood Bank
Each new PETA rescue video shows why every animal is someone, and this one about Kolbie—the senior hound rescued by our undercover investigator from The Veterinarians’ Blood Bank (TVBB)—is a must-see. This video and our accompanying photos, which tell this canine’s harrowing story and celebrate her new life in a loving home, are sure to warm your heart and stir you to help exploited dogs and cats confined at animal blood banks.
What Kolbie the Dog Endured at a Vile Blood Bank
PETA’s undercover investigation into The Veterinarians’ Blood Bank—a business in Indiana that keeps more than 900 dogs and cats perpetually confined to barren kennels and crowded pens and sells their blood to veterinary clinics—found that workers bled animals who were elderly, emaciated, and sick with upper respiratory infections, bone cancer, and other issues.
Many of the animals at TVBB, including Kolbie, were born and bred there, and the crude operation’s owners hold the vast majority of dogs and cats there captive until they die. Even animals “retired” from blood draws have been warehoused indefinitely.
Kolbie was born at TVBB on March 22, 2011. Workers took her blood—to sell—every three weeks until just before her 12th birthday and continued to warehouse her despite her “retirement.”
When Kolbie tries to bark, she only makes a raspy noise. A worker said she had been debarked in a “horrible” and “gruesome” surgery that the facility’s owners used to perform on dogs to keep them quiet. Her neck was scarred by the cruel procedure, which deprived her of most of her vocal cords.
Like all the animals used by TVBB, Kolbie’s ear was tattooed with a number, relegating her to the status of a thing and denying her individuality.
Kolbie’s last surviving littermates became ill. They had been imprisoned at the facility for their entire lives, and TVBB workers euthanized them just months before our investigator adopted her.
Rescuing Kolbie
After pleading with management to be allowed to adopt Kolbie, PETA’s investigator’s request was finally granted. Our investigator took her to a veterinarian, who found that she had a urinary tract infection (UTI) and arthritis. Like many dogs at the facility, she also had serious dental disease. Once she had recovered from the UTI, the investigator brought her back to the veterinarian, who pulled 10 of her teeth due to an advanced infection that had eroded them to the root.
Despite being kept in a small, hard-floored kennel for more than 12 years, Kolbie quickly adjusted to life as a beloved family member, taking over every bed and mastering stairs—which she’d never seen before—in a matter of days.
Now Kolbie’s favorite things are snacking, sleeping on her many orthopedic beds (including near the fireplace on chilly days), taking light walks, and giving endless kisses. She also loves her new canine sister, Lily, and her new feline siblings.
Help Dogs and Cats Held Captive at Blood Banks
Take action for dogs like Kolbie and cats still imprisoned at TVBB. Tell Mars Inc.—the owner of BluePearl and VCA Animal Hospitals (two hospital chains that TVBB says it supplies with blood products)—to implement a policy against obtaining blood from blood banks that hold animals captive.
