Bomber’s
Story:
Our 11-year-old Scotty was diagnosed with Metastatic Melanoma
in 1999 and only expected to live another two months. Her
father was working at the John Wayne Cancer Institute on the
development of a human cancer vaccine to treat melanoma. After
much anguish and heartbreak the decision was made to put Bomber
on a vaccine treatment protocol. With absolutely no side effects
and excellent veterinary care, Bomber flourished for another
14 months or 9 doggie years. Her cancer returned and she lost
her battle in the spring of 2000. Due to the incredible human
animal bond we had formed, we began the development of a cancer
vaccine for animals. We worked hundreds of hours with several
veterinary specialists and a group of volunteer scientists
on a vaccine for solid tumors in animals. We have had remarkable
success and now have a patent pending and are ready to start
a large-scale study at a major university. We now must find
a partner to share the dream of a treatment for this dreaded
disease that claims the lives of thousands of animals.
While spending hundreds of hours at a veterinary clinic to
develop this canine cancer vaccine, we became involved in
medical assistance for pet rescue out of our love for animals.
The requests we received for financial assistance were in
the thousands of dollars and increasing daily. The idea to
start a medical foundation for the prevention of cruelty to
animals was born out of the love for one little 28-pound Scottish
terrier and the need of families, individuals, and animals
that are less fortunate then ourselves.
Valley Animal Medical Foundation was founded in 2001; we
received our tax-exempt status in the summer of 2002 and started
our Foundation projects in January of 2003. With the support
of IAMS pet food company the Foundation began to flourish.
With IAMS help and encouragement we now operate a food bank
that distributes over 14,000 repackaged meals a month. We
applied for and received an anonymous grant for spay/neuter
and are able to assist 75 families a month with free spay/neuter
vouchers. (75 animals if they are not neutered have the potential
to produce 5,025,000 puppies in five years, this figure x
12 is staggering) With the support of Saks Fifth Avenue we
have adoption day once a month from our local animal shelter
and have assisted in the rescue of over 120 animals this year.
We have low cost vaccine clinics that have vaccinated over
900 animals in six months. We are working every day on a proactive
program of pet rescue to assist low income and medically challenged
individuals to continue to provide a happy, healthy, environment
for all animals.
When you consider the strength of the “ Human Animal
Bond” and how the smallest creatures can make such a
difference in a world so big, it is nothing short of a miracle.
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