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Darcy FUNDay helps dogs with heart conditions
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If you’re looking for a picture of heart-felt joy, then try attending an outdoor outing with dozens of Cavalier King Charles Spaniels.
These doe-eyed, floppy-eared dogs affectionately earn the nickname: Love Sponge. After being a featured speaker at the 4th annual Darcy FUNDay recently in Laguna Niguel, CA, I quickly discovered why.
Oodles of Cavaliers from Southern California converged to a dog-welcoming park to unleash some fun and help finance research into the causes and cures of chronic valvular disease, the most common form of heart disease affecting dogs.
This event is staged annually in memory of Darcy, a 6-year-old, tricolor Cavalier who died from this heart disease in 2006. Darcy’s owners, Kim and Jerry Thornton, of Lake Forest, CA, created the Darcy Fun in conjunction with The American Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Charitable Trust, a 501 (c) (3) organization formed in 2002 for the protection of the health of the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.
While the Darcy Fund is aimed at Cavaliers, any discoveries it helps to fund have the potential to benefit all dogs. Approximately 11 percent of the dogs seen by veterinarians have some form of heart disease, according to top veterinary cardiologists. Of those dogs, between 75 to 80 percent have CVD.
Small and medium size dogs that are middle-aged or older are most commonly affected, with Cavalier King Charles Spaniels and Dachshunds having the greatest incidence of CVD. Chihuahuas, Poodles and Papillons are also prone to CVD, but any dog has the potential to develop it.
In the words of Joanne Nash, a Cavalier breeder and friend of Darcy, “Maybe some day dogs like Darcy will have a chance to live longer, healthier lives.”
For more info: Tax-deductible donations to the Darcy Fund may be made through the ACKCSC Charitable Trust at http://ackcsccharitabletrust.org/darcy.htm.
