Connecticut Shoreline to Puppy Up! - Walk Postponed Until Nov. 10th

Due to Hurricane Sandy, organizers have decided to postpone the Shoreline Puppy Up! Walk until Nov. 10th.  The Festival will begin at 10:30am and the Walk will start at 12pm. Please look for additional updates on facebook (www.facebook.com/2milliondogs) and twitter (www.twitter.com/2milliondogs).  The venue at Hammonasset remains tentative and will be confirmed early next week pending the cleanup progress at the Park, as well at the status of Utility Truck Staging at the Park.

On November 10th,  Madison, CT  will be one of approximately 40 Puppy Up! Walks to take place this year across the country. The event is part of a national effort organized by Memphis based 2 Million Dogs, a 501 C (3) organization that relies on the generosity of individuals and corporations to help in its mission to eradicate both human and canine cancer through investing in comparative oncology studies.

“We are disappointed that the Walk has been postponed, but hope everyone understands and will be able to join us at Hammonasset State Park on the 10th,” said Valerie Kodman, organizer of the first Puppy Up! Walk in Madison.

The monies raised through the November 4th walk and subsequent events, will be used to partner with leading cancer research institutions to help further their work in the leading-edge field of comparative oncology.

Just like humans, dogs naturally develop cancer. The work of clinical veterinary oncologists in using naturally occurring cancers in animals to better understand and treat cancer in humans is called comparative oncology. There are several factors that make comparative oncology important in the fight against human cancer:

• Pets are exposed to many of the same environmental risks as people
• The cancer cells are biologically comparable
• There is a large population of cats and dogs with pre-existing cases of cancer
• Cancer occurs in pets within years compared to decades in humans.

2 Million Dogs grew from a cross-country walk by Luke Robinson of Austin, TX and his two dogs Hudson and Murphy. They walked from Austin to Boston to fulfill the promise Luke made to his dog Malcolm, a Great Pyrenees who died from cancer. Luke later formed 2 Million Dogs with the belief that if two dogs can walk 2000 miles to raise awareness about canine cancer surely two million dogs can walk 2 miles.

For more information, follow these links:

http://www.2milliondogs.org

Recent articles and media coverage about comparative oncology

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203315804577207252135374064.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

http://main.uab.edu/Sites/neurosurgery/research/87470/

http://www.uab.edu/uabmagazine/2012/january/petproject

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/CancerPreventionAndTreatment/treating-dogs-cancers-benefit-humans/story?id=15543199