CVMBS Oncology Service Receives Grant Renewal To Support Pets Fighting Cancer
Story by Jennifer Gauntt, CVMBS Communications
Dr. Heather Wilson-Robles and the Oncology Service at the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital (VMTH), in the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (CVMBS), have received a second grant of $75,000 from the Petco Foundation that will financially assist owners with their pets’ cancer treatments.
The Pet Cancer Treatment grant, supported by the Blue Buffalo Foundation for Cancer Research, Inc., provides support for the treatment for domestic companion animals suffering from cancer to pet parents of modest means or to pet parents whose pets have provided a service to others.
The VMTH Oncology Service received its first $200,000 Pet Cancer Treatment grant in 2019. Texas A&M was one of 11 universities to be awarded an additional grant for 2021.
The funds provided through the renewal grant will be used to offset the cost of cancer treatment for qualifying owners who are seeking treatment for their pet at the VMTH.
“In our everyday work, research is important and, yes, teaching is our mission, but the clients are why we get out of bed every day—to come in and see these cases and treat cancer,” said Wilson-Robles, professor and Dr. Fred A. and Vola N. Palmer Chair in Comparative Oncology. “We are so fortunate to have been able to help 91 animals through the initial grant, and we know this support has made a big difference to those families.
“Owners cannot always afford treatment, so having these supplementary funds, in some cases, helps owners to not have to make a choice about what they can do—it allows them to treat their animal when they otherwise wouldn’t be able to. It’s huge for them,” she said. “For us, this grant has allowed us to do a lot more for our clients, and the renewal of the grant will allow us to help even more patients in the future.”
The Petco Foundation makes grant investments in organizations that work to make the most significant impact possible with the support provided by the Petco Foundation. The foundation desires to support and encourage the work of those organizations that work together in an effort to create a nation where no animal is needlessly euthanized, where domestic animals can be trained to provide service to people and organizations in need, and where all domestic animals can be healthy and find lifelong homes and lifesaving medical care.
As the only veterinary hospital in Texas to offer an integrated oncology service, the VMTH’s Oncology Service provides cutting-edge, comprehensive cancer care, offering medical, radiation, and surgical oncologists working closely together in one location.
Since 2010, the Petco Foundation, in partnership with Blue Buffalo, have invested more than $16 million in the fight against pet cancer.
With more than 4,000 animal welfare partners, the foundation works to inspire and empower communities to make a difference by investing in adoption and medical care programs, spay and neuter services, pet cancer research, service and therapy animals, and numerous other lifesaving initiatives.
For more information about the VMTH’s Oncology Service, visit http://vethospital.tamu.edu/small-animal-hospital/oncology.
To learn more about the Petco Foundation and its efforts to provide lifesaving treatment to pets, visit www.petcofoundation.org/pethealth.
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For more information about the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, please visit our website at vetmed.tamu.edu or join us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Contact Information: Jennifer Gauntt, Director of CVMBS Communications, Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences; jgauntt@cvm.tamu.edu; 979-862-4216
