YAPS Program Highlighted on 9NEWS
9News
YAPS (Youth And Pet Survivors) is a program at Children's that matches children battling health challenges with pets who are battling the same thing.
9News tells the story of a yellow lab named Jake and his owner, Mike Blake. Jake was diagnosed with cancer and Mike took him to receive treatments at Colorado State University Veterinary Hospital in Fort Collins every Monday morning. Mike also took Jake to many places around Colorado and took pictures of him and started a blog about Jake's adventures called thatsoftdog.com.
Anne Gillespie, a registered nurse at Children's and founder of YAPS, heard about Jake and thought that he would make a great match with Will Willer, who also has cancer. Will and Mike (on behalf of Jake) e-mail regularly about where Jake has visited last and his prognosis.
"It's very comforting for a child to know that an animal is dealing with the same thing," says Gillespie.
Watch the entire story on 9News.
