'Hero' Devon greyhounds who saved other dogs in need of forever homes

Two greyhounds whose donated blood was used to save other dogs are now in need of rescuing themselves.

Dale and Poady are being cared for at the Margaret Green Animal Rescue Centre near Tavistock - but are now in search of their forever homes.

The two greyhounds have helped save the lives of two sick dogs by donating blood.

The three-year-old dogs made the donation after local vets Westmoor put out an SOS.

They sat calmly throughout the entire donation without needing to be sedated - and were rewarded with chicken breast.

Senior Animal Welfare worker Jess Rowe said the boys had lots of fuss, but now need to find their forever homes.

"We were told that the boys did really well, they didn't even need to be sedated," she said.

"They just sat there good as gold while they took the blood that they needed and then they stayed the night and had a lot of fuss and then came back the next morning and running round the field as normal."

It's not as uncommon as you might think that dogs are blood donors. At Margaret Green, they are called on probably about four times a year.

Jess said dogs have to weigh more than 25kg and be in good health to be able to donate.

"If we've got an animal that can help, like Dale and Poady, then we can send them down, and they'll stay there with them for the night and get a nice lot of fuss afterwards and hopefully help an animal out."

The two dogs that received the transfusions are now doing very well.

But Dale and Poady - who have spent 20 and 90 days at the centre respectively - are still in need of a home.

Jess said greyhounds can be hard to re-home as many people think they need a lot of exercise, but after a walk the breed are happy to curl up for a cuddle.