Our Charity

“I cannot adequately express my thanks for your generous help…”

“I can’t thank you enough for your generous fund you have set up for sick pets…”

“After (you said Frankie’s Friends could help), I started crying for joy. Thank you so much….”

These are just some opening snippets from letters we get every day from grateful pet parents who have been able to save or prolong their pets’ lives due to Frankie’s Friends. Of course this is nothing compared to seeing the look of relief and the tears of gratitude because they won’t have to make an “unthinkable decision” based solely on financial considerations.

The mission of Frankie’s Friends is to find cures and save pets with cancer and other devastating pet diseases.
The founding veterinarians of Florida Veterinary Specialists, the predecessor of BluePearl Veterinary Partners, understood the challenges faced by some families whose pets needed care, but for whom the costs of treating critical emergencies or providing specialty services were out of reach. With discouraging frequency, animals with treatable conditions cannot be helped due to lack of funds.

The Veterinary Cancer Foundation was started in 1996 by Dr. Neil Shaw, co-founder of FVS, with a mission to save pets with cancer who would be euthanized due to their families’ lack of financial resources. But the reach and mission of the foundation quickly broadened. Today, Frankie’s Friends continues to raise money to help pets with cancer, but also is funding efforts to find better treatments and cures for other pet diseases.

Who’s Frankie? The foundation’s name was changed to Frankie’s Friends to honor Frankie DeBartolo, an inspiring greyhound who was treated at FVS for 8 years for heart disease and cancer until she died in 2008.

To learn more about the foundation’s important work and how you can become a friend of Frankie, click here.