Texas A&M Veterinary Oncology Service Receives PetCo Funding To Subsidize Animal Treatment
Dr. Heather Wilson-Robles and the Oncology Service at the Texas Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital (VMTH), in the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (CVM), have received a $200,000 grant 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.
Funds 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, associate professor and Dr. Fred A. and Vola N. Palmer Chair in Comparative Oncology.
“One of the big things about these funds and how they help clients is that they allow pet owners to treat their animals in a more affordable way; 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.”
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 1999, the Petco Foundation has invested more than $200 million in lifesaving animal welfare work help animals live their best life.
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, and for more information on the Petco Foundation, visit www.petcofoundation.org.
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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, Interim Director of CVM Communications, Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Science; jgauntt@cvm.tamu.edu; 979-862-4216
