Canine Cancer, Recognition, Memorial Card & Golden Days Book Giving Program Donations

Click on the Golden puppy to hear about our mission. Your tax-deductible donations support the Land of PureGold Foundation's ability to fund cancer treatment grants of working dogs and comparative oncology research that benefits both people and companion animals. We promise that one-hundred percent of these donations are solely used for funding cancer treatment and research. And, you can specify in your donation order whether you want the money to go to funding cancer treatment for a working dog applicant or to the bigger cause of comparative oncology research.

Want to support our funding of comparative oncology research?
Comparative oncology is the study of those cancers that occur similarly in people and companion animals in order to identify treatments and cures that benefits them both. A distinction to comparative oncology research is the fact that disease is never induced in the animals being treated. That is, the cancer has only occurred spontaneously. Humans and dogs have been linked in a mutually beneficial relationship since the Stone Age, when man and dog first joined in the hunt. Dogs share our homes, food, and affection. As it turns out, they also share much of our genetic code and suffer from many of the same kinds of cancer. That's why the clinicians and scientists of the Animal Cancer Care and Research (ACCR) program at the University of Minnesota are joining with dogs in another type of hunt—the search for a cure for cancer in both dogs and humans.

"Veterinarians have known for years that humans and their dogs have many types of cancer in common—non-Hodgkin lymphoma, prostate, lung, breast, and bone cancer, and melanoma, to name a few," Dr. Jaime Modiano explains. "Yet, it wasn't until the dog genome was decoded in 2005 that scientists could begin to reap the rewards of studying cancer in both dogs and humans to their mutual benefit, bolstering the emerging field of comparative oncology."

Want to support our funding of cancer treatment for working dogs?
Our grants are $1,000 per individual full-time working dog partner, the reimbursements provided directly to respective veterinary personnel for oncology related expenses in the United States and Canada. All breeds/mixes may apply. Applicants MUST have been active, full-time working dogs at the time of cancer diagnosis, in the areas of assistance, detection, search & rescue, enforcement, military work, or full-time animal-assisted therapy dogs in assisted living homes or providing therapy in a professional setting (e.g., working with a speech, physical therapy, or occupational therapist; working in a school 5 days weekly; etc.).

There are 4 different types of donations:

Comparative Oncology Research 'Giving Program' Donation . . . Helping both Man and Dog, GOTTA DANCE & DR. MODIANO DVDs provided FREE as a gift
Recognition Donations — Both Honoring and Memorializing Others (ability to specify whether donation to fund cancer treatment or cancer research)
Memorial Card Donation (ability to specify whether donation to fund cancer treatment or cancer research)
Art Vanderbilt's Golden Days Book 'Giving' Program Donation (ability to specify whether donation to fund cancer treatment or cancer research)

Click here to see our many donators.

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Comparative Oncology Research 'Giving' Program Donation . . . Helping both Man and Dog
GOTTA DANCE & DR. MODIANO DVDs provided FREE as a gift

Check out our Progress

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As of May 1, 2013, we have provided the film to 64 folks who have each made a $50 donation to Dr. Modiano's comparative oncology research. Please help us get to our initial goal of $15,000.

Get GOTTA DANCE & Dr. MODIANO DVDs as a gift with Comparative Oncology Research Donation . . . Helping both Man and Dog

$65.00 (OUTSIDE USA)

100% of this donation will be provided to Dr. Modiano, Director of the Animal Cancer Care and Research Program, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota. Comparative oncology is the study of those cancers that occur similarly in people and companion animals in order to identify treatments and cures that benefits them both. A distinction to comparative oncology research is the fact that disease is never induced in the animals being treated. That is, the cancer has only occurred spontaneously.

Humans and dogs have been linked in a mutually beneficial relationship since the Stone Age, when man and dog first joined in the hunt. Dogs share our homes, food, and affection. As it turns out, they also share much of our genetic code and suffer from many of the same kinds of cancer. That's why the clinicians and scientists of the Animal Cancer Care and Research (ACCR) program at the University of Minnesota are joining with dogs in another type of hunt—the search for a cure for cancer in both dogs and humans.

"Veterinarians have known for years that humans and their dogs have many types of cancer in common—non-Hodgkin lymphoma, prostate, lung, breast, and bone cancer, and melanoma, to name a few," Dr. Jaime Modiano explains. "Yet, it wasn't until the dog genome was decoded in 2005 that scientists could begin to reap the rewards of studying cancer in both dogs and humans to their mutual benefit, bolstering the emerging field of comparative oncology."

Dr. Modiano directs the College of Veterinary Medicine's Animal Cancer Care and Research program and holds the Alvin S. and June Perlman Endowed Chair in Animal Oncology. He also is a member of the Masonic Cancer Center, Univ. of Minnesota, a National Cancer Institute–designated comprehensive cancer center recognized for its research, treatment, and education.

Breakthrough research (published in Chromosome Research in February 2008) arising from a highly productive and long-standing collaboration between Dr. Modiano and Dr. Matthew Breen, professor of genomics at North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine, proved that cancers in the two species aren't just similar; they are virtually the same. At the University of Minnesota, research in comparative oncology bridges the College of Veterinary Medicine and the Masonic Cancer Center. The research will help advance the understanding of the biology of cancer and create new therapies to treat cancer in both humans and dogs. When the feline genome is decoded, cats will aid in the effort, too.

Bringing dogs into the cancer research mix offers huge benefits, chief among them speed. Dogs live into old age, but their life spans are compressed, which allows researchers to see the progress of cancer and the effects of different types of treatments 7 to 10 times faster than in humans. That allows rapid completion of clinical trials.

In addition to the FREE films, we will acknowledge a special message below if desired. Please provide your desired message with the donation.

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Recognition Donations — Both Honoring and Memorializing Others
This is a wonderful way to support our cancer treatment and research fundraising efforts. Amounts of $10 or more should be donated here. Please specify whether you want the donation to fund cancer treatment or cancer research. And, include in your donation information who the donation is to recognize, and the message which you would like included. In that way, we can acknowledge him or her below.

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Memorial Card Donation

Acknowledging someone's deep grief over the loss of a cherished furry companion or of a loved friend or family member can be quite heartwarming. And, people are especially thankful when they see that your thoughtfulness and generosity is helping others as well.

Rochelle Lesser's photo of a youngster with his first puppy is featured on the card, so exemplifying the wonders of the human-canine bond. Classic linen, cream-colored oversized 5¼" x 7¼" cards, at a hefty 80-lb weight, are matched with 70-lb linen envelopes.

Please Note: You will be directed to a page to provide yours and the card recipient's contact information once payment has been received.

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Art Vanderbilt's Golden Days Book 'Giving' Program Donation
There could be no finer gift than this lovely, author signed and inscribed, lovely book, yours for a $50 tax-deductible donation. Written by Art Vanderbilt, one of our Foundation's Advisory Board Members, Golden Days: Memories of a Golden Retriever, tells a beautiful tale of the affection between people and their very special dogs. As Art writes, "She had taken us places we never would have gone and shown us things we never would have seen without her."

Amy had golden eyelashes, a real fondness for Vermont cheddar, and a worn-out slipper she never tired of bringing to those she felt surely needed it. From puppyhood, she considered herself in charge of the Vanderbilt family—making her round of bed checks each night, greeting long-absent members of her human pack with unrestrained affection, herding the family back to shore when they went for a swim in the ocean, and bartering brand-new shoes for one well-chewed rubber frog. And, being the ultimate drama queen, she would lapse into a sulk worthy of the very best Hollywood leading ladies, whenever she was left out of her family's activities.