Blue Buffalo, a General Mills brand, will match donations to Morris Animal Foundation up to a total of $200,000 through Dec. 31, 2026, to support research aimed at earlier cancer detection and better treatments for dogs and cats.
The dollar-for-dollar matching program was announced ahead of National Pet Cancer Awareness Month in November. Morris Animal Foundation is a nonprofit organization that funds animal health research worldwide.
Blue Buffalo was founded by the Bishop family after their Airedale, Blue, was diagnosed with cancer.
“Blue Buffalo was founded on the belief that pets are family, and we know how much every moment with them matters,” said Gabriel Viñas, vice president and business unit director for Blue Buffalo Dog at General Mills. “Blue’s battle with cancer helped inspire our brand, and that continues to drive our commitment to pet health. By matching donations to Morris Animal Foundation, we’re giving pet parents an opportunity to make an even greater impact on research that could help families enjoy more time with the pets they love.”
More than $9 million for research
Over nearly 20 years of partnership, Blue Buffalo has contributed more than $9 million to Morris Animal Foundation for research into serious diseases affecting pets, including cancer. Funded work includes the Golden Retriever Lifetime Study, which follows thousands of dogs throughout their lives and has collected more than 650,000 biological samples and 75 million data points to support research into cancer and other health conditions.
Other supported research includes work at Tufts University investigating potential treatments for canine bone cancer, and a project led by Cornell University with Purdue University and Virginia Tech to improve diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease and intestinal lymphoma in cats. Scientists are also studying whether artificial intelligence can detect early signs of certain cancers, including lymphoma, by analyzing DNA fragments in blood samples.
“Understanding cancer starts with understanding how it develops, and that requires studying animals over time,” said Dr. Kelly Diehl, senior director of scientific programs at Morris Animal Foundation. “The Golden Retriever Lifetime Study is giving scientists an extraordinary resource to explore questions that could ultimately improve how we detect and treat cancer. We’re grateful for Blue Buffalo’s two decades of support and for the pet parents who help make this important research possible.”
Donations can be made at MorrisAnimalFoundation.org. More information on Blue Buffalo’s pet cancer research support is available here.
