Morris Animal Foundation

Tasha, a beautiful, silver and white Siberian husky, was given a new life when racing professional Steve Marcus adopted her in 2003. Tasha’s original owners had given her up, but fortunately the staff at Save Our Shelters felt Tasha could be retrained and placed in a new home. They enrolled the 2-year-old in the Pen Pals Program, which is a division of Save Our Shelters, in Richmond, Virginia. Through the program, inmates train and rehabilitate dogs. After eight weeks in the program, Tasha was the model of behavior and ready to join the Marcus family. Her story and participation in the program were even featured on Animal Planet.

For the past five years, she and fellow husky Anya have been Steve’s constant companions, regularly accompanying him to his offices at Marcus Motorsports, which he founded, and Motorsport Technology Group, which designs and builds racecars. Then in March 2008, the unexpected happened. Tasha was very lethargic. She didn’t want to eat or go outside. Even worse, she wasn’t flashing her usual “husky smile.”

A trip to the veterinarian diagnosed Tasha with an often fatal blood disorder called immune-mediated hemolytic anemia (IMHA), also known as autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA). This autoimmune disease causes a dog’s body to destroy its own red blood cells, and many dogs – more than 50 percent – die within weeks of diagnosis. There is no cure, and treatment is often a matter of trial and error. Sometimes the treatments’ side effects seem worse than the disease itself – but those treatments are the only hope for survival.

Fortunately, Tasha has Steve on her side. Steve has a fierce competitive streak and a desire to win. This is one battle he refuses to lose and he’s taking his story to the place he knows best – the racetrack where he plans to raise more than half a million dollars for research into this disease.

“I love my dog and I will explore every avenue that I can to save her life,” Steve says. “My fight is for her, and the fight is against this disease.”

After Tasha’s diagnosis, Steve searched for more information about IMHA and eventually found the Meisha’s Hope AIHA/IMHA Web site established by Joanne Dickson. Joanne and her husband, David, know the heartbreak of battling AIHA. Their dog Meisha was diagnosed at age 3 and lived with the disease for nearly 10 years. After Meisha’s death in 2001, the Dicksons established the Meisha’s Hope AIHA/IMHA Fund #338, a special fund at Morris Animal Foundation that provides funding for AIHA/IMHA research.

After talking with Joanne, Steve knew he had to use his name, so well-known in the racing world, to make a difference. On Memorial Weekend 2008 at Lime Rock Park Race Track in Connecticut, Steve will debut his BMW Z4 M coupe, which will sport paw print decals and the Morris Animal Foundation colors and logo.

The Lime Rock event also will include informational brochures about AIHA/IMHA. Caps, T-shirts and stickers featuring the paw print and logos will be available and donations accepted, with proceeds going directly to the Meisha’s Hope AIHA/IMHA Fund #338 at Morris Animal Foundation.

“This is how I can help my own dog and other dogs,” Steve says. “We have tremendous ability to showcase MAF and what they do and to direct funding for research through MAF to the Meisha’s Hope fund. I’m going for it and I don’t like to be second place!”

Click here to register for the Mutt Strut or Race for Hope 5K.

Click here to support Meisha’s Hope AIHA/IMHA Fund #338.

Click here to read the press release.