K9 Medical Detection NZ

K9 Medical Detection New Zealand Charitable Trust (K9MD) was created in 2018 by Pauline Blomfield. With a strong belief that a dog’s incredible sense of smell could be used as a non-invasive diagnostic tool in medicine, and a large dose of ‘kiwi can do’ attitude, Pauline embarked on a relentless journey to fulfil her vision. It seemed everyone had a heart-breaking story of losing a friend or loved one to cancer, and the common phrase was always, “if only we had known sooner”.

Using dogs for the early detection of cancer and other diseases is operating successfully overseas, Pauline was determined a similar programme should be available here in New Zealand.

The University of Otago is the official research partner and K9MD has a full clinical support team; an international canine scent detection expert in the United States to review their work; a training centre at AgResearch Invermay in Dunedin complete with two laboratories for the storing and handling of all medical samples; specifically designed scent detection equipment; two dogs training for the detection of bowel cancer in urine and two dogs training for the detection of prostate cancer in urine. All training data is recorded into a specialised computer programme and analysed by a biostatistician and all training is video recorded.

To help Pauline and the K9MD team to train more dogs for more early cancer detection please donate or fundraise. Every little bit helps.

Together we can make a difference.