Canine Health Events Inc. is a diverse gathering of dog lovers from across the country who are dedicated to improving the lives and health of dogs. Using normal dog events, we seek to raise money for canine health research both through entry fees and additional fund-raisers, such as raffles, auctions and sponsorships.
CHE is as interested in understanding how to prevent canine diseases as we are in finding cures. In the future, we intend to fund research into nutrition and vaccine protocols, as well as the more typical cancer or specific disease studies.
CHE makes donations through established health foundations with scientific review boards, such as the Morris Animal Foundation, the Canine Health Foundation and the Golden Retriever Foundation, rather than establishing its own grant-review procedures. This enables us to focus our efforts on what we do best--raising money through dog events.
Mission and Vision
Canine Health Events is a non-profit corporation incorporated in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. We are applying for 501(c)3 charity status and expect an answer from the US Internal Revenue Service in the late summer 2007. CHE's mission is to fund canine health research to improve the health and lives of dogs. CHE is dedicated to increasing our knowledge and understanding of key canine health concerns and disease prevention. Our vision is to improve the quality of life, health and longevity of dogs.
History
Canine Health Events Inc. is the brainchild of longtime dog lovers and competitors, Gayle Watkins and Maggie Lukiewicz. In 2005 and 2006, Gayle and Maggie joined forces with Shirley LaFlamme to run the "Agility for a Cause" agility trials in West Springfield, MA. Together, this trio raised over $100,000 for canine health research in the two years they were together.
In March 2006, Gayle and Maggie left AFAC and incorporated Canine Health Events to help dog clubs and organizations raise money for health research. Using the structures, systems and webtools that they fine-tuned in earlier trials, CHE will assist clubs in running raffles or adding online activities, such as memorials and survivor stories.
Board and Officers:Gayle Watkins, PhD, President and Co-Founder
Gayle has been breeding golden retrievers and competing in a wide array of dog events--conformation, agility, obedience, tracking, hunt tests and field trials--for nearly 30 years. In 2003, she lost 2-year old Torch, Gaylan's Sparks A Flying TD JH WC, to malignant histiocytosis. The loss of this wonderful dog to such a terrible disease at such a young age inspired Gayle to channel her grief into raising money for studies focusing on understanding, preventing and curing the many diseases that are striking dogs today.
Maggie Lukiewicz, Vice President and Co-Founder
Maggie fell in love with golden retrievers over 13 years ago when she adopted her first golden McDuff. As of April 2007, McDuff is still with her at the wonderful age of 14 years old. Maggie competes with her goldens in obedience, agility, conformation and hunt tests. Over the years, she's felt helpless seeing her friends lose their young dogs to cancer. The loss of these young dogs has inspired Maggie to help raise money for finding cures and means to prevent these horrible diseases that are affecting our dogs.
Pat McKinney, Secretary
Pat McKinney spends her time with two Golden Retrievers and has become involved in competitive canine activities such as agility, obedience and field. She is a member of the Golden Retriever Club of America, three local Golden Retriever club chapters, two agility clubs and two field training clubs. Since becoming involved in all these canine activities, she was saddened by all the people she knew losing dogs at early ages to many different diseases and cancers. She joined the Board of Directors of Canine Health Events to help achieve the goal of raising funds to prevent and cure many of the health issues facing canines today.
Laura (Rosie) Higdon, Treasurer
Rosie Higdon has had dogs most of her life. She teaches dog obedience classes and competes in canine sports such as tracking, agility, obedience and field. She lost a golden retriever to bone cancer when the dog was 9 years old. She has seen many young dogs die of devastating diseases. She has lent many a sympathetic ear for those going through this grief with their beloved pets. By being a Board Member of Canine Health Events Inc., she can help raise money to help to find means of preventing and cures for many of the diseases affecting our dogs today. She also understands that many of the ways to prevent and cures we find for our canine friends also apply to people.
Sally King, Board of Directors
Sally is a resident of Granby, CT and has owned and shown Australian Shepherds in agility since 1999. The mission of Canine Health Events, to raise money for canine health research, is near and dear to her because one of her Australian Shepherds is afflicted with genetic epilepsy that has been very difficult to regulate, ending his agility career at the age of three, and jeopardizing his future health and quality of life. Sally has been involved in nonprofit governance for many years and recently finished two years as president of a local agility club. She looks forward to putting her past experiences to work in order to help raise money for canine health research, including research directed to finding the marker gene for epilepsy in the Australian Shepherd and other breeds similarly affected.
