“The dog is the god of frolic.” Henry Ward Beecher
| In This Issue |
| In This Issue: 8 Years Ago Today!; Our 11th “Cancer Can’t Keep a Good Dog Down” Calendar Contest Has Begun!; Upcoming PuppyUp Walks; New treatment from KU Cancer Center, tested on dogs, could eliminate need for chemotherapy; Puppy Up Studios Clinical Trials Series: Bladder Cancer — Interview with Dr. Deborah Knapp; Pup of the Month. |
(Arriving in Boston)
8 Years Ago June 19th!
8 years ago on June 19th, Luke, Hudson and Murphy Robinson, our Executive Director Ginger Morgan, and many friends and supporters walked the final mile from Back Bay Fens to Boston Common, accompanying Luke and The Fuzzybutts for the completion of a 2,300 mile, 826 day trek. It was a very emotional day. In total, Luke and the boys have walked over 4,000 miles to bring awareness to canine cancer.
Our long-time friend Barbara Cleary writes this: “It has now been 8 years since this wonderful day. Since this walk, we have lost so many four-legged and two-legged of our family to cancer. I was proud to be a part of this and still support the Puppy Up Foundation and all the wonderful things they do to bring awareness to canine cancer. Love you Luke, Ginger, and Erich and the rest of the team!! You have made such a difference in the world and I am proud to know you.”
A special thanks to Barbara and all the fantastic people who continue on this journey with us.
Puppy Up!
(To read the blog from that day, and see some of the photos, please follow this link.)
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It’s Begun! The 2019 Puppy Up Calendar Contest Is On!
It’s begun! Our 11th year Puppy Up Foundation’s “Cancer Can’t Keep a Good Dog Down” calendar contest is underway and we’d like you to participate!
Enter the contest to HONOR your canine cancer hero, PROMOTE awareness of canine cancer and FUNDRAISE for cancer research to benefit both pets and people.
Who can enter? Anyone with a dog who currently has or has had cancer (living or passed), including dogs who have entered before.
How do I enter the contest?
First, register your dog as a participant in the contest ($25 entry fee). Notice the “Register” link at the top right of the page. Click on this link to start the registration process.
· If you want to enter more than 1 dog, there will be a separate registration with fee for each of them.
Then, log in to your Headquarters (HQ) and upload your pet’s photo and customize their fundraising page.
· Add your dog’s story in 150 words or less about how they came to be touched by cancer. Include their personality, favorite activities and unique qualities. Pages that are personalized raise nearly 3 times more than non-customized pages.
· Share your page with friends and family. Let them know how this has touched your dog’s life and your own.
· Have fun and good luck!
How does voting work?
· Voting begins as soon as you enter and ends at midnight, EDT on August 15th. (Any votes received after that time will be appreciated, but will not count towards the final tally.)
· You can register your dog at any time prior to the end of voting. But, the earlier you register, the more time you have to promote your pet on social media to get votes for your dog!
· Your $25 registration fee applies as 25 votes for your dog. (Votes are $1 each, minimum donation $5.)
· Your voting dollars go to fund cutting-edge research in comparative oncology, that branch of research that benefits both companion animals and humans in our fight against cancer.
Who wins?
· A minimum of 13 pets with the highest number of votes will win a prominent place in the calendar with their photo and story.
· Any pet with a minimum of 50 votes will be included in the calendar gallery.
We’re looking forward to all this year’s entries, and through your participation, funding vital canine cancer research. ENTER NOW
Questions or concerns? Trouble uploading stories or photos? Please contact us at calendar@puppyup.org.
Upcoming PuppyUp Walks
June 24, 2018: PuppyUp Madison, Wisconsin will take place from 10 AM to 2 PM at McKee Farms Park in Fitchburg, Wisconsin.
Since the inaugural PuppyUp Madison Walk in May, 2014, the Madison community has provided unprecedented support to help find a cure for cancer in our canine and human companions, raising over $500,000.00 for the study of comparative oncology.
Through celebrating our heroes, honoring our survivors, and remembering those who have passed, PuppyUp Madison has made resounding strides to help fund research. Thousands of kind people throughout our Madison and surrounding communities have provided support, sponsorship, participation, and the ultimate act of kindness in teaming with us in what will be our 5th PuppyUp Madison event. For this, we are eternally grateful.
To find out more and register for the Madison Walk, please follow this link, then click REGISTER to sign up.
Also please check out their Facebook page. It has many announcements of activities Madison is promoting, including an Afterparty after their walk.
The PuppyUp Walk in Nashville has been rescheduled. It’s now set for Saturday, October 27, 2018.
To learn more about future walks, please follow this link. To learn how to start a walk in your area, click here.
New Treatment From KU Cancer Center, Tested On Dogs, Could Eliminate Need For Chemotherapy
(Pictured is Remy, a 10 year old Shelty.)
(By Charlie Keegan)
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — We call dogs man’s best friend, and now the four-legged animals are helping doctors create a new way to fight cancer in humans that could eliminate the need for surgery or chemotherapy.
A treat never tasted better to Remy, a 10-year-old Sheltie.
“She’s funny, she’s full of life and love and spunk,” explained Julie Yoder, the rescued dog’s owner.
She said Remy survived being lost for 42 days in central Kansas during winter. Last year, Remy caught another bad break. Yoder found an egg-sized tumor on the dog’s forearm. It turned out to be cancerous.
Enter Dr. Daniel Aires, a dermatologist, not a veterinarian. The University of Kansas Health System physician teamed up with another doctor at the University of Kansas Cancer Center to develop a new approach to fight cancer.
They are testing it on dogs before humans. The doctors only choose dogs with a naturally occurring cancer, and with the permission of the dog’s owner and veterinarian.
“If you can fix a cancer in a pet dog, you are a whole lot closer to fixing a cancer in me,” Aires said comparing dogs to lab mice as an example.
The work takes place under a startup company called HylaPharm, sponsored by the University of Kansas.
Aires’ treatment works by changing the way drugs are delivered to cancerous areas. It calls for injecting a drug directly into the tumor. The antibiotic kills cancer cells without hurting good cells. Aires said it could eliminate the need for chemotherapy or surgery. Plus it provides an option to treat tumors located in inoperable areas.
It worked like a charm for Remy. The dog was cancer-free after one treatment.
“It’s really exciting to be part of that, to think that her results and her reaction and everything with her is eventually to be used in humans. It’s a wonderful thing,” Yoder said with pride.
While the treatment is promising, Aires said it’s too soon to put a timeline on when he can start testing it on humans.
“We have saved some four-legged lives, and that’ll get us into heaven,” Aires said with a smile.
“We are marching on with saving two-legged lives eventually.”
Aires and his group are looking for people who own dogs with cancer to volunteer for this trial. To find out if your pet meets their criteria, call 913-588-3840.
Because this treatment is in a clinical stage, it is free for dogs. Aires said dog owners simply pay their veterinarians a small fee to inject the drug.
For the video, click this link.
From The Founder — Luke Robinson
Puppy Up Studios Clinical Trials Series Bladder Cancer — Interview with Dr. Deborah Knapp
On my recent travels in the Midwest, I had time to stop in and visit with Dr. Deborah Knapp at Purdue University. Dr. Knapp is the Principal Investigator of a Bladder Cancer Study we funded, and we’re excited about the preliminary results.
Enjoy the interview with Dr. Knapp here, and learn more about the cancer studies you help to fund at www.puppyup.org.
Hudson, Indiana & Luke
Pup of the Month — Lily Morgan
On June 5, Lily, one of our Executive Director’s beautiful pups, had surgery to remove a tumor from her cecum (intestinal involvement). Surgery went well and the road trip home was uneventful. However, the pathology report came back and Lily has GIST. We hope you will keep Lily and Ginger in your thoughts as they face this new battle together.
The Puppy Up Foundation does not endorse nor recommend any particular product, service, or treatment. We offer information strictly for educational and/or informational purposes. We believe it is the pet owner’s responsibility to do the research and draw his or her own conclusions.
We can always use your help. If you’re interested, send me an mail at ginger@puppyup.org.
Sincerely,
Ginger Morgan, Executive Director
The Puppy Up Foundation
