Dog Detects Owner's Cancer

Fri, 21 Nov 2008

A man who recently discovered he had a cancerous mole has claimed he wouldn’t have suspected the skin cancer had it not been for his pet Rottweiler, Beamish. Chris Tuffrey from Banbury in north Oxfordshire revealed how he has had a mole on his chest for 15 years, but until recently had thought nothing of it. However, when his pet dog Beamish began ‘nuzzling and licking’ him in an attempt to get him to lift his arm near the mole, he became suspicious and visited his doctor in Deddington to have the mole checked out.

Mr Tuffrey’s doctor was equally suspicious, and referred him to Oxford’s Churchill Hospital. Two weeks later, melanoma was confirmed by the hospital and the cancerous mole was removed. Mr Tuffrey declared his appreciation for his pet Beamish, ‘He’s absolutely brilliant. He’s a very laid back dog, and I shall be grateful to him for the rest of my life’.

It is not the first time an animal has been able to detect a cancer. Trials have shown that pets, particularly dogs, are capable of detecting cancers in patients’ urine, even when medical tests indicate there is no sign of cancer.

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