WHY WE GIVE BACK
Canine Cancer
& why the
University of Florida
Happy Aire started with one dog.
Grover was an Airedale, and when he was diagnosed with cancer, our family did what every dog family does. We fought for him. We were living in Texas then, and the care he got gave us more time and beat a lot of the odds along the way. I started writing during that fight, partly to hold onto him and partly because I had to put it somewhere. That writing became a book, A Watch(ed) Dog Never Boils, and the heart of it never left me.
Years later I was sitting in COVID lockdown thinking about Grover and what his story was supposed to mean, and that's when Happy Aire was born. The mission was simple from the start. Build something good for the dogs we love, and give back to the people working to keep them here longer.
That's why Happy Aire gives back to canine cancer research every year. Grover is the reason.
Why the University of Florida?
I'm a Gator. I graduated from UF, so the school was already family to me. But there's a second reason, and it's the kind of story any dog mom will recognize.
A few years back I moved home to Florida to be near a close friend who'd been diagnosed with cancer. My parents helped me make the trip, and together we drove four Airedales from Texas to Florida. Halo, Cherry, and two you already know around here, Hudson and Erwitt.
One quiet Sunday evening I left the dogs at my folks' place and went out to dinner. Easy night. Everything put away, nothing out of reach, no history of anybody getting into anything they shouldn't. I wasn't gone long.
We came back to empty pill bottles on the floor. Plastic bottles, inside plastic bags, put away where no self-respecting dog should have been able to reach them. Hudson and Erwitt had decided otherwise and helped themselves to their sister's medication. Within minutes we were at the emergency clinic, and I slept that night with my phone in my hand, just in case. By morning we were on the road to UF.
They spent two nights there and got care I'll never forget. The team treated my dogs like they were their own, and they sent the boys home to me.
So when I think about where Happy Aire's giving should go, the answer is easy. I chose UF for their reputation, for the work they do, and for what they did for my two counter-surfing troublemakers. I chose oncology because of Grover.
The cancer is why I have Happy Aire. UF is why I still have everyone.
How You Can Help
If Grover's story or your own dog's story moves you to give, you can support canine cancer research at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine directly. Every gift goes to the people doing the work.
Thank you for being here, and for loving your dogs the way we love ours.
Click here to learn more about supporting canine cancer research at the University of Florida.