Published: May 03, 2008 06:50 pm            

Former Texan and doggie pals walk to fight canine cancer

By Cristin Ross

cross@jacksonvilleprogress.com

A man and his dog — it’s a beautiful thing.

When former Texan Luke Robinson lost his best friend, a Great Pyrenees named Malcolm, to canine osteosarcoma (bone cancer) in 2006, it was the loss of that beautiful friendship that inspired Robinson to trek from Austin to Boston — with his other Great Pyrenees buddies Hudson and Murphy — to help raise awareness of and fight canine cancer.

The trio started in Austin in March and will officially arrive in Jacksonville on Sunday.

“Malcolm was my boy,” Robinson said Wednesday. “Anyone who has ever lost a pet for any reason, not just cancer, knows that pain.”

As Robinson and his furry friends trek across the country, they’re gaining support and raising funds for a canine cancer study.

“What most people don’t understand is that cats and dogs are good models for cancer in people,” Robinson said. “Pets get the same kinds of cancers that people get.

“We want to help develop medicine to help existing cases, of course, but we also want to specifically study the causes of the different types of cancer. We’ve got no data on that, no infrastructure to even begin to collect that kind of information — that’s what we want to focus on,” Robinson said.

One way Robinson and his foundation are raising money to reach that goal is by allowing pet lovers to add their pets’ names to his memorial shirt.

Robinson and the dogs stayed with Jacksonville resident Sam Hopkins while they were in the area. Murphy, a stately gentleman at 7 years old, was limping a little as the group made its way Thursday down U.S. Highway 79 toward Jacksonville. Hudson is just a pup at nearly 2 years old.

An emergency visit to veterinarian Ira Stephens on Friday found Murphy has inflamed tendons in a front leg.

“So if you see us and there’s only two — me and Hudson — that’s why,” Robinson said. “But Murphy’ll be OK. It was actually the best scenario we could have hoped for.”

Hopkins said he got involved with the walk as a member of Jacksonville’s Klein Animal Shelter.

“I’m connected with a group that focuses on Great Pyrenees and when they contacted me to help drop water for them along their route I jumped at the chance,” Hopkins said. “They were just going to camp out in my back yard when I offered them a place to stay, but after a little convincing, my wife (she’s a neat-nik) said they could all stay in the house.”

Donations of funds or supplies for the walk and for the research may be made at the Web site www.2dogs2000miles.org.

        

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