As commercial dog walkers, Kelly Manis and Lorrie Holmes meet a lot of wonderful dogs. But this dream job (exercise, the outdoors and dogs!) also comes with a downside: combined, Kelly and Lorrie have witnessed nearly 20 dogs lose their lives to cancer, including their own four-legged besties. Faced with the recurring heartache, Kelly and Lorrie wanted to help and decided a fundraising walk was the answer. Plan in hand, they partnered with Suzi Beber from Smiling Blue Skies Cancer Fund and launched the first Walk To End Canine Cancer in 2012.

Since then, the annual walk has raised 1.6 million dollars nationally, with walks now being held country-wide. 100% of the proceeds will be donated to Smiling Blue Skies Cancer Fund, who work alongside the Ontario Veterinary College to conduct canine cancer research trials and hope to put an end to this all-too-pervasive disease.

The OVC (Ontario Veterinary College) has taken part in just over 20 clinical trials and are the only Canadian veterinary college in the National Institute of Health Comparative Oncology Trials Consortium (COTC). Their recent cancer research is bringing hope to many dog owners—ourselves included.

With the help of Smiling Blue Skies Cancer Fund, the Mona Campbell Centre for Animal Cancer (OVC) was able to create a new Clinical Trials Coordinator position within the centre. This enabled the centre to manage more than a dozen new trials and helped recruit participants for future projects that will help change the face of canine cancer. 

The Smiling Blue Skies Cancer Fund was created by Suzi Beber when she lost her beloved Blues to lymphoma. Blues had helped Suzi battle her own ARDS (Acute/Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome), and was a source of light when a routine surgery became anything but. In his honour Suzi created the fund in the hopes of putting an end to canine cancer. 

The 5th annual walk will be held September 24th at the Kew Gardens in Toronto and will be comprised of a 4km on-leash dog walk along the boardwalk, followed by a silent auction emceed by Global TV’s Chief Meteorologist Anthony Farnell and his mini doodle appropriately named Storm the Weather Dog. Take part in the event or head to their Facebook page for information on other ways of helping this worthy cause.