3-legged dog a leader in cancer treatment

Drug therapy that starves tumors may soon be used to help people

Ernie Taylor should have been dead several times over.

Instead, the courageous canine is living high on the dog, so to speak, with his own table at a foothills restaurant and his nameplate on the Long Realty door of his owner, Bob Taylor.

That's not even the amazing part.

The 16-year-old, three-legged terrier-mix is also beating cancer for the second time in less than three years - this time with a groundbreaking treatment that may one day be used on humans.

Ernie's first bout with the deadly disease in 2000, treated with chemotherapy and surgery, cost him his leg.

His second bout is being treated with the "Navy Protocol," a cocktail of FDA-approved drugs meant to starve tumors of their blood supply.

A golden retriever named Navy was first treated with such a mix in 2000. Navy's owner, Marion Haber, was a veterinary student in Boston who worked as a research fellow at the Angiogenesis Foundation, a nonprofit that came up with the treatment.

All traces of Navy's cancer were gone within 16 months.

Ernie, who started the treatment in May, just had a remarkable slate of X-rays in August, said Taylor, 63.

"He's in remission," Taylor said. "He's almost cancer-free."

Taylor feeds Ernie the drug cocktail through a syringe twice a day. The drugs are available at Prescription Lab Compounding Pharmacy.

"They mix them with chicken or beef broth so he doesn't mind the taste," Taylor said.

Ernie's regular checkups are with longtime family veterinarian T.K. Warfield of Valley Animal Hospital, who came up with the proper dosage for the 22-pound pooch.

Ernie's earlier cancer treatment cost more than $7,000.

The drug cocktail costs $175 each month. Ernie will be on the treatment for a year, or $2,100 worth.

Cost, however, has never been a factor when treating what Taylor calls "Tucson's miracle dog."

Taylor and his wife, Lori Taylor, 62, first met Ernie when he was a feral dog running with the coyotes around their Catalina Pueblo neighborhood near North Campbell Avenue and East Skyline Drive.

The most contact they had with Ernie was when he'd dash onto their porch to snatch bones they'd leave for him.

When Bob Taylor came home from back surgery in 1999, all that changed. Ernie made a beeline into the couple's house and jumped on Taylor's bed.

They've been best friends ever since. Taylor said it's hard not to love a dog that used to greet him after work by running beside his car and jumping in the window.

Ernie has also secured a private table at Blanco Tacos + Tequila, his own office space at Long Realty and a place in the heart of everyone who meets him.

Ernie's a fixture in his little red stroller along the Rillito River walk, church services at First United Methodist Church and a host of outdoor concerts.

He especially perked up when an Elvis impersonator recently performed at Reid Park.

Ernie's next project is getting certified as a therapy dog so he can visit children cancer patients at University Medical Center.

"I want to take him down there to show even pets and animals can go into remission from cancer," he said. "Ernie is a wonderful animal and I want to bring some of that joy to everyone we can.

"For however long I have him, he will help me and others see what kind of life medication and technology can give us now."


USA TODAY contributed to this article.