According to the World Health Organization, half the world’s population has limited access to diagnostics, especially those living in remote locations. Many are hundreds of miles away from the closest hospital, so locals take hours and even days to get medical attention, and routine exams such as mammograms aren’t an option for them. Also, in developing places, some villages have no electricity to run the most basic diagnostics, let alone more complex and expensive screening equipment. In many diseases such as cancer, early diagnosis to start the proper treatment is key to survival.

At the same time, millions of abandoned dogs in overpopulated shelters are euthanized every year for not being adopted. Since several studies have demonstrated that dogs can sniff out diseases, we found a way to solve both problems through an innovative, economic, and transformative way to get where doctors cannot to detect cancer and other diseases in those remote and developing places, while giving those abandoned dogs a new life where they even become health heroes.

In many developing countries such as Brazil and Morocco, a big part of the population lives in remote areas that lack access to hospitals and medical attention.Very often, small villages and communities don’t even have electricity to run the most basic diagnostic devices. And when they do, they don’t have financial resources to afford them. With that said, the overall perception of the project is so positive in every market the idea took place that SFBO is already in advanced talks with the government in countries like Brazil to make our four-legged friends part of the public health system. Dogs Without Borders became so relevant for many isolated communities in 3 different continents that the initiative is now on its way to become an independent NGO that can reach millions more living where doctors and diagnostics are a distant reality.

The Dogs Without Borders project aims to bring diagnostics to remote places by training dogs rescued from shelters that were going to die to detect cancer and other diseases. By just sniffing an odor sample, they can diagnose a disease before it is too late, saving human lives in consequence.

We partnered with SFBO, a dog cancer-detection group part of the renowned Curie Institute, to create Dogs Without Borders — an initiative that rescues dogs waiting to die in overpopulated shelters and trains them to sniff out diseases such as cancer to help save lives in the world’s most remote and isolated communities, where doctors and diagnostics are out of reach.

The initiative was launched by tackling breast cancer, a disease that dogs can detect with near 100% accuracy, even before a tumor is formed. However, we're already expanding to other diseases through research and new partnerships with organizations all around the world.

For safety reasons, and to avoid distracting the dogs and therefore increase accuracy, dogs don’t need to sniff patients’ skin directly. Instead, a gauze with odor samples is collected from patients. To make it possible, we have created a bone-shaped “odor collection kit,” which contains everything locals need to perform the collection themselves: visual instructions, soap, gauze and a thermal zip-close bag to return the sample. The kit is waterproof, sterile and hermetic to withstand harsh environments with different humidity levels and extreme temperatures. After being collected and returned to our crew members in our community tent, odor samples are then sniffed by the dogs. The sooner they sniff the sample, the higher their accuracy in detecting disease, so patients can be sent for further investigation and treatment sooner.

The project is already helping to detect new cases of cancer in South America, Africa and Europe, but it’s expected to keep growing its presence on all

Since January 2023, more than 1,000 patients have been diagnosed by our dogs across three continents, including some of the most remote regions on the planet such as the Amazon rainforest in Brazil and nomadic tribes in the Sahara Desert. But, this is just the beginning.

The collected samples not only will help save lives that could be lost if patients have gone undiagnosed, but they are also a tool for future research and dog training. Thanks to our latest studies and the affiliate program, the project is expanding operations to tackle many other diseases such as malaria, COVID-19, diabetes and Parkinson’s, among others.

Dogs Without Borders became so big and so relevant for many communities that SFBO decided to turn it into an independent NGO and has already started the legal process to make that happen. SFBO is also in talks with the government of Brazil to make dogs officially part of the public health system.