Our friends at the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine Foundation recently brought their amazing work to our attention, and we want to share it with all of you. The Foundation is the fundraising arm of the ACVIM and helps raise money to fund clinical studies. Their beautiful new website, Chase Away K9 Cancer, is a great resource for learning more about canine caner, and also tells how you can work with them to fund studies to stop this awful disease.
The following guest post was written by our friends at Chase Away K9 Cancer:
“It is estimated that as many as 1 in 3 dogs will get cancer. Join us in our continuing efforts to help them all survive.
Help Us Chase Away K9 Cancer
“I could tell you the longest story about the worst day of my life but that’s not how Chase should be remembered. She left us yesterday after I took her to Sauvie Island one last time for a swim off a dock she has played on for years. It was strange: I have never seen the water in the Willamette so clear that you could see her entire body and her legs swimming away. She had a happy smile on her face and her tail was up and she enjoyed play time at the river. The cancer was getting her quicker than anyone expected so it was time for us to say good bye. My vet did a wonderful job and I held her to the end. She will never ever be forgotten and will fill our hearts forever with so many great memories.”
This letter was written by Cera Reusser, “mom” to her beloved Chase (Willamette’s Chase’n Black Smoke)-a black Labrador Retriever who lost her battle with cancer in 2006. Chase was an athlete in every sense of the word and received her AKC Master Hunter title along with an Elite Jumper title for DockDogs® Big Air competition. Her cancer diagnosis and death at the age of 6 propelled Cera to fight canine cancer and thus “Chase Away K9 Cancer” was born. Rather than retreat with her grief she used it to begin an inspirational grassroots effort that will give new hope to dogs with cancer.
Chase Away K9 Cancer is a fundraising campaign where 100% of donations directly support studies focused on canine cancer and conducted by ACVIM Board-certified specialists. Since it began nearly $200,000 has been raised, much of it one dollar at a time.
