You might recognize these two golden retrievers, Clancy and Chase. They kept guard outside f St. Mary’s Church on Greenwich Ave. for eight years until sadly their owner Rev. Monsignor Frank Wissel had to be put in a nursing home. Bill Gorgas and Barbara Davis saw that these two pups needed a new home and jumped on the opportunity.
“We probably went through about a month’s long process of adoption,” said Gorgas.
Chase and Clancy became a part of the family officially on May 14 of last year. Things were great for about a year until Clancy got sick one June night.
“He woke us up on a Sunday night breathing very heavily, and the next morning he was completely lethargic- wouldn’t go for a walk, wouldn’t eat, wouldn’t lift his head,” said Gorgas.
They were then hit with the news that Clancy had Hemangiosarcoma, a very common cancer in golden retrievers.
“I’ve read 25 percent of all golden will die from that particular cancer,” said Davis.
“It’s very aggressive, it’s very quick. We actually lost him in two days,” said Gorgas.
Gorgas said the cancer began in the dog’s liver and spleen but it had spread throughout his whole body.
“There was nothing they could do, so we actually put him down that night,” said Gorgas.
And as a tribute to their four-legged friend, ClancysCure was founded. It works in partnership with the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine to raise funds for canine cancer research.
“We needed to figure out why he was given to us and turn that into a positive,” said Davis.
All funds raised go directly to Cornell’s College of Veterinary Medicine. Gorgas hopes the money raised will bring about a day when dogs are cancer free.
“Of course, that’s a long term goal, but you have to start somewhere,” said Gorgas.
And now this cause is even more important to Gorgas and Davis- it was discovered a few weeks ago that Chase now has a tumor similar to Clancy’s.
“There’s a one third probability that it’s benign, and that’s the thought we are going on right now and that’s our hope,” said Gorgas.
But no matter what happens, these dogs will have helped lead the way to hopefully one day eliminating caine cancer.
“My philosophy in this is, you took Clancy from me, so game on. I want to have a proactive stance on this and fight it head on,” said Gorgas.
You can help fight canine cancer head on by donating at www.clancyscure.org.
