Black Dog Toy Honors Canines-N-Kids

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Press release: The Black Dog

The Black Dog, a New-England headquartered retailer known for its black lab mix logo and casual clothing, is now offering a special dog toy for the Canines-N-Kids Foundation (CNK), a nonprofit working to put an end to the cancers kids and man’s best friend both develop. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of “Besty” will benefit Canines-N-Kids’ cancer-ending efforts.

“We are delighted that The Black Dog has created this beautiful dog toy to support our work,” said Ulrike Szalay, executive director and founder of Canines-N-Kids. “The more we can help people understand the connection between the cancers that both dogs and kids get, the more likely we are to be able to share and produce research that save both. Besty will be a great ambassador for us, and we appreciate The Black Dog’s vision and partnership.”

The Black Dog Tavern restaurant was opened in 1971 on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. The brand has now grown to over 30 retail stores and food service locations from Maine to Florida. This past year, The Black Dog partnered with manufacturer “Hugglehounds” to design its own exclusive “Besties”  Collection. These tough dog toys are made of durable, double-layer tuffut technology to withstand tugging and pulling. Each knotted toy dog features The Black Dog mascot’s signature white markings and red collar, plus each “Bestie” features its own unique style details, including the Canines-N-Kids’ inspired toy named Besty. Besty features a small heart with a paw print on the back. A portion of the proceeds supports Canine-and-Kids Foundation, an organization formed to raise awareness and funds to research cures for cancers.

According to the American Cancer Society, cancer is the number one cause of disease-related death in children. Nearly 16,000 children in the U.S. will be diagnosed with cancer this year and yet only four drugs have been approved for kids’ cancers the past 40 years. Only four percent of NIH’s budget, and almost no pharma dollars are invested in kids’ cancer today.

For the 6 million canine patients diagnosed with cancer each year, the outlook is no better. Nearly half of all canines die from cancer. There is little movement behind new (or better) treatments for either of these vulnerable groups. Several cancers develop in both kids and man’s best friend such as bone cancer, brain cancer, lymphoma and leukemia. In many cases, these cancers are biologically similar or even indistinguishable between kids and dogs, and also far more prevalent in man’s best friend.

Funds raised will support the Foundation’s work to promote the promising science of comparative oncology—studying and treating spontaneously developing cancer in canine patients when they get sick. The research can help doctors better understand and accelerate the development of better medicines and a cure for kids with those same cancers.