AURORA | The veterinarian kept telling Aimee Thompson she had to stop her four-year-old boxer named Stymie from licking his wounds.
The dog was keeping the incisions from a recent ACL surgery from healing, the vet insisted, adding that Thompson had to do a better job of monitoring her pet. That advice didn’t sit right with the dog’s owner. Thompson kept a 24-hour watch on her dog; she treated him like a sick child.
“Finally, the last time we brought him in, we got the phone call,” Thompson said, remembering the day when she learned her young dog had cancer. “I had pet insurance on him, and I was supposed to have canceled it. I just kept putting off canceling it, and it was a good thing I did. My husband and I realized that if we didn’t have the resources, we didn’t know what we would have done.”
It was enough to drive Aimee Thompson to plead with her husband Brian Thompson — a soldier stationed at Buckley Air Force Base — to use money from their savings account to launch a nonprofit. Weeks later, the couple formally launched the Stymie Canine Cancer Foundation, an organization devoted to helping pet owners deal with the financial strain of treating their animals’ cancer.
Stymie died on Aug. 29, 2011, but the impact of his illness has persisted. The work of the foundation has brought Aimee Thompson to cities, festivals and events across the country. In the coming two months, Thompson estimates she’ll rack up more than 8,000 miles in car trips to cities like San Diego, Las Vegas and Los Angeles, setting up booths and spreading the foundation’s message.
“We have been traveling cross-country to spread the word about canine cancer as well as raising funds,” Thompson said. “Cancer treatment can cost up to $30,000 or more. Whatever general funds we have in goes to the low income. If they don’t meet our financial criteria, we will do a fundraiser.”
Thompson is bringing the foundation’s message closer to her Aurora home for a Father’s Day fundraiser planned for June 17 at the Elk Mountain Brewing Company at 18921 Plaza Drive in Parker. The event will feature paintings, food vendors and craft brews from Elk Mountain, all as part of an effort to raise funds for the Stymie Canine Cancer Foundation, Thompson said.
“It’s kind of like canvas and cocktails. People are going to learn how to paint a dog or a cat on a canvas from 1 to 3 p.m. We also have two local DJs coming out and supplying music. We’re going to have food as well as beer, and we have a whole bunch of silent auction items,” Thompson said.
With plans to set up a booth at the events ranging from the Warped Tour when it hits Denver on June 16 to the upcoming Denver and Arapahoe County fairs, Thompson said she’s made spreading the message a full-time occupation. While Stymie has passed, the message still resonates for Thompson and her husband, who still have two dogs. One is Stymie’s littermate named Scar; another is an English mastiff the couple adopted when Stymie was still sick.
“It can be really hard,” Thompson said of her work with the foundation. “You get grown, huge men coming up and breaking down and telling you their stories.”
Reach reporter Adam Goldstein at agoldstein@aurorasentinel.com or 720-449-9707