Our History

Veterinary medicine cannot rely on health insurance, government support, or large-scale charities –- commonplace in human medicine — to support families who cannot afford the cost of care for their beloved pets.

For many years, an informal system existed where each veterinary practice shouldered as much charity work as they could. This worked for many decades and was well described in the James Herriott novels.

Thanks to leaps in veterinary medical knowledge and sophisticated treatments and technology over the past several years, the quality of veterinary medicine has improved remarkably. With these changes, small solo practices gave way to larger group practices … and the challenge to provide financial assistance for pets from families without resources became almost overwhelming.

The doctors and staff in Tampa at Florida Veterinary Specialists (now BluePearl Veterinary Partners), founded in 1996 by Dr. Neil Shaw, quickly discovered these challenges. Many patients who came to their doors needed care, but the costs of administering to critical emergencies or providing specialty services were sometimes out of reach of the families. The ability to provide for these pets was stretched beyond reasonable limits. And still, with discouraging frequency, they came: animals with treatable conditions who could not be helped due to lack of funds.

Many charitable organizations exist to provide care for strays, abused pets, and relinquished or abandoned pets, but there are few alternatives for pets belonging to otherwise loving and responsible owners who simply are unable to pay for an unexpected illness.

The Veterinary Cancer Foundation was started by Dr. Shaw in 1996 with a mission to save pets with cancer. But the reach and mission of the foundation was broader — to raise money and help pets who would otherwise suffer without proper care or be euthanized due to their families’ lack of financial resources.

In 2008, the foundation’s name was changed to Frankie’s Friends to honor Frankie, a beautiful greyhound, cherished by the Edward DeBartolo family of Tampa, Florida. Born in 1996, Frankie died in 2007. She had been treated at Florida Veterinary Specialists since 2000 for both heart disease and cancer. The DeBartolo family has been among the foundation’s most generous supporters.

At the same time, the foundation’s board of directors redoubled its efforts to address the problem of pet cancers and, in 2009, announced the Cure Canine Lymphoma project, with a goal of treating dogs with lymphoma and finding a cure for this most common cancer in dogs.

Also in 2009, the foundation announced its intent to build Guest Cottages near BluePearl Veterinary Partner hospitals to assist families of critically ill pets to be by their sides, similar to that which McDonald’s has done for pediatric patient families with the Ronald McDonald House accommodations.

Frankie’s Friends is registered with Guidestar.org, a web-based organization that verifies and provides information on thousands of charitable organizations in order to advance transparency, enable users to make better decisions, and encourage charitable giving. We are also registered with JustGive.org, which will accept online donations on behalf of Frankie’s Friends.