Luca Fund for FIP Research
WHY DONATE?
We need your help. Find out how your donation can help end FIP. >>
Since first being discovered in the 1960s, Feline Infectious Peritonitis is one of the most studied feline diseases and yet, it remains one of the most poorly understood viral disease of the cat. Much progress has been made since those early days and encouraging new treatments have surfaced in recent years but there’s much work to be done in the fields of feline FCoV and FIP.
In spite of promising treatments, FIP still remains an almost always fatal disease. There is a complete lack of awareness and knowledge about this disease and its underlying cause, the vile feline coronavirus (FCoV). Another important issue is the lack of proper diagnostic tools.
It is up to us, all FIP parents who are part of a growing, strong and caring community to create much needed change, not simply by donating to well-known institutions but by investing in ideas and people in whom we believe, based on our own principles and values. We are united by the pain and sorrow FIP left in our lives and we must work together to promote kindness to animals and mobilize resources towards ethical and humanely conducted research.
If you believe that FIP research can be successful without the use of laboratory cats, and unconditionally oppose any research that leads to the loss of life through intentional infection and unnecessary and painful experimentation, please donate to the Luca Fund for FIP Research.
Your donation to the Luca Fund will be applied to studies conducted at the University of Glasgow School of Veterinary Medicine. The Luca Fund for FIP research is a special fund of the American Alumni of the University of Glasgow established in 2018 to accept tax-deductible donations for Feline Infectious Peritonitis research. AAGU has been recognized by the IRS as a section 501(c) (3) charitable organization. All donations to AAGU are deductible as charitable contributions to the full extent permitted by law.
FROM THE HEART
The story behind the Luca Fund: read a personal note from Maria S. Bonino. >>
Many times, I’ve been asked: Why did I get involved in the FIP field? Why did I decided to launch the EndFIP® global initiative and found the Luca Fund for FIP Research?
In the past, I’ve answered those questions providing full and lengthy details but during a recent trip to Los Angeles when I finally gathered the strength to visit the veterinary clinic where Luca transitioned on October 5, 2013, it all became very clear. Whilst in the room where Luca took his last breath, and at the same time, I felt the air escaping my lungs and the walls caving in on me. Now, a few years later and with a different perspective I realized the answer simply is: because I do not want any other cat nor his/her human family to experience what Luca and I endured during those 25 finals days of his life.
After losing Luca to the dry form of the disease, I decided to dedicate myself to help find a solution and upon conducting extensive research decided to support FIP research at the University of Glasgow School of Veterinary Medicine due to their unparalleled history in the feline viral field and the fact that past, as well as on-going FIP research, is conducted humanely without the use of laboratory cats.
The Luca Fund for FIP Research was announced on October 5, 2018 from Assisi, Italy as part of the launch of the EndFIP® global initiative.
Losing Luca was shattering. I’ve never experienced that profound grief before even though I’ve loved and lost many times in the past. It took a long time to come to terms with what had happened to Luca and the unfairness of it all. FIP marked my life and left a devastating emptiness which can only be filled by being involved and doing what I can to help find permanent solutions to end FIP and help those touched by this dreadful and insidious disease.
Help us accomplish our goals. Your donation is both needed and appreciated. The Luca Fund for FIP Research is committed to exclusively support research that does not use laboratory cats and does not conduct experimental infection of healthy cats with a deadly virus. Help us end FIP, so that one day, no one will have to go through the pain of losing their cherished cat to a disease that has claimed so many for so long.
Gratefully yours, Maria
"If a man aspires towards a righteous life, his first act of abstinence is from injury to animals."
Albert Einstein.
OUR PLEDGE
Ethical, cruelty-free research only. No direct or indirect use of laboratory cats. No experimental infection of healthy cats with a deadly virus.
About the Luca Fund for FIP Research:
Your donation to the Luca Fund will be applied to studies conducted at the University of Glasgow School of Veterinary Medicine. The Luca Fund for FIP research is a special fund of the American Alumni of the University of Glasgow established in 2018 to accept tax-deductible donations for Feline Infectious Peritonitis research. AAGU has been recognized by the IRS as a section 501(c) (3) charitable organization. All donations to AAGU are deductible as charitable contributions to the full extent permitted by law.
THE GLOBAL ENDFIP® INITIATIVE
luca fund for fip research
The Luca Fund for FIP research is a special fund of the American Alumni of the University of Glasgow established in 2018 to accept tax-deductible donations for FIP research. The Luca Fund exclusively supports ethical, cruelty-free research and does not and will never fund, directly or indirectly, any research that uses laboratory cats or infects healthy cats with a deadly virus.
the endfip® project
The EndFIP® project was created with the purpose of promoting knowledge amongst cat lovers, breeders and rescuers about Feline Coronavirus and FIP. The EndFIP® website is a place where people can come to learn the latest news on FIP prevention, treatment and most importantly progress in the goal of eradicating FCoV, the virus that causes FIP.
GLASGOW UNIVERSITY
Founded in 1451, Glasgow is one of the world’s great universities, the fourth oldest in the U.K, and from the beginning the leadership encouraged global interaction with the “best” irrespective of location. This vision has determined the future direction and eminence of the Glasgow Veterinary School for the rest of the 20th Century and into the 21st century.