There are fears "New Zealand animals are going to die" if the country's only canine blood bank is forced to shut its doors.
The New Zealand Companion Animal Blood Bank based near Palmerston North relies on greyhounds, who often have universal blood types to supply blood and plasma to vet clinics across the country.
However, the pool of viable greyhounds may soon be smaller due to the proposed Racing Industry Amendment Bill, which would ban greyhound racing in Aotearoa.
"It is a state-mandated destruction of the infrastructure that we rely on to have a pipeline of greyhounds that produce blood and blood products for New Zealand pets," said blood bank director Paul Mitchell.
He said he feared "more New Zealand animals are going to die," and Kiwis would have to suffer through losing their pets.
"I don't think giving up and saying 'it's too hard’ is the New Zealand way," he said.
Mitchell said the organisation had supplied around 30 units of blood and 20 units of plasma top the country since the middle of January.
Sean Johnson from North Shore Veterinary Emergency Clinic said they "wouldn’t be able to operate" without these donations.
"We heavily rely on blood products for the treatment of emergency treatments of our patients," he said.
“Without these products, there will be no emergency procedures [and] there will be no extracorporeal procedures.
"The animal would fight without the blood products, or they would need to be put to sleep. That is the reality."
The donations helped more than 100 dogs each year, including eight-year-old Zorro who was diagnosed with Evans Syndrome five years ago.
Evans syndrome for dogs was a severe autoimmune condition where the immune system mistakenly destroys both red blood cells and platelets. This causes concurrent anaemia and low platelet counts, resulting in weakness, pale gums, and dangerous bleeding.
Zorro's owner Tamara George told 1News it was "very frightening".
"Even a slight wound can cause excessive and continuous bleeding leading to death. and so it was a very frightening, really frightening disease to face, not knowing anything," she said.
She said she was "hugely grateful" for the donation received.
"If we hadn't got the plasma, you know, Zorro wouldn't have survived."
Peters: 'Decision not taken lightly'
Racing Minister Winston Peters announced the proposed ban on greyhound racing in late 2024.
In 2025, he said the Government would ban the sport from July 31, 2026, saying too many dogs were being killed and injured.
He had previously said in speech to parliament last year that the "decision was not taken lightly", and 1News reported greyhound trainers, veterinarians and racing officials were holding out hope for a last-minute reprieve from the Government as the sport entered what was likely its final season.
"However, it was considered that the rates of dogs being seriously injured remained too high and the improvements made were not significant enough."
Animal activists had long called for action after numerous reviews of the sport sounded alarm about animal welfare practices.
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