"Cancer Can't Keep a Good Dog Down" Calendar

Luke Robinson has only begun his fight against canine and other pet cancers. During his memorial trek from Austin to Boston, which I wrote about in a previous blog, Luke walked every mile wearing a memorial T-shirt bearing the names of dogs who had passed from this awful disease. No dog was forgotten; each dog who had died "walked" on those T-shirts too with Luke and Hudson and Murphy. What a wonderful tribute to these good pets.

Now that the walk is over, the aggressive work against pet cancer begins. In addition, all should know that this also benefits all pets and humans with cancer because comparative studies are being done as well.

If you have a dog with cancer, please get involved in the research I mentioned in my previous blog. For no cost, anyone can donate a sample of his or her dog's DNA to the Canine Hereditary Cancer Consortium. Luke's team is looking for at least 2,000 samples to be studied with the latest current medical and veterinary technology to develop genetic screens, diagnostic tests, and treatments for hereditary canine cancers. If a person would like to be involved with this important study, please see instructions for taking and submitting the DNA at http://www.2dogs2000miles.org/.

The next project Luke is undertaking is the third annual "Cancer Can't Keep a Good Dog Down" calendar. Those interested in having their dog's picture and story on the calendar can enter the on-line contest as follows: send to calendar2011@2dogs2000miles.org a digital picture of a minimum 500kb resolution in a .jpg or.gif format. Then, write a 1000 character, not words, paragraph about the dog. Include the name of the dog, the human companion's name, and email address.

All entrants' pictures and stories will be posted on-line at the 2dogs2000miles website. Everyone will be able to see and read about each dog. Then, after the deadline for submissions is over, voting begins. Each vote costs a $1.00. The voting lasts for several weeks after which the money is given to three veterinary oncology programs and to Luke's newest organization, 2 Million Dogs.

So, everyone whose has had a dog die of cancer, can memorialize him or her through this contest and, depending on the votes, on the calendar for 2011.

And, anyone with a dog that currently has cancer can get involved with oncological research by providing a DNA sample.

For the contest: calendar2011@2dogs2000miles.org. Submissions end July 31, 2010.

For the DNA instructions: http://www.2dogs2000miles.org/

For any questions : erich@2dogs2000miles.org

I'd like to personally thank all my readers for participating in these two very worthwhile events. Thanks a lot. We've got to go after cancer, fight it, and beat it.