Movember grows

Even a dog is getting in on the act during Movember this year.

Tobi is a three-year-old shih tzu and he knows he looks good.

His owner, Karly Russell, hopes he looks so good that you'll go online and donate money - because Tobi is lining up for Movember.

Russell works at a dog groomer's and experiments with Tobi's coat all the time.

One day she thought he might suit a moustache and one of the other staff members mentioned Movember.

"We thought it would be cool if we got involved with Movember and tried to raise some money," she says.

Tobi's moustache is growing well - it's 3-4 centimetres and could be another centimetre longer by the end of the month.

Russell thinks he's so handsome with the mo she's not sure if she'll want to cut it. Maybe just a trim. Tobi is very proud of his moustache, she says. "He loves it when people come up and pay him attention."

Like other dogs, she says, he can be very conscious of his looks when he's been groomed. "They walk out of here knowing that they're looking good."

Money raised from this year's Movember is being donated to the Cancer Society in support of its work with prostate cancer and the Mental Health Foundation in support of its Out of the Blue depression awareness campaign.

Movember organiser Jim Slattery says every year 3000 Kiwi men are diagnosed with prostate cancer and around 600 die. "This makes prostate cancer the second- largest cause of male cancer deaths, after lung cancer in this country. Money raised from Movember is invested in lifesaving research to improve the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer patients. Depression is also an important health issue with one in 10 New Zealand men experiencing it at some stage in their lives. Many suffer in silence but Movember aims to raise awareness of depression in the hope of making it easier for men who experience it to ask for help."

For the 2009 campaign, organisers have enlisted former wrestler Hulk Hogan as an official Mo Mentor.

"To all my Hulkamaniacs, say your prayers, take your vitamins and grow a moustache for Movember this year," says Hogan. "Get into the ring with me, Hulk Hogan, and my Mo Bros in the fight against prostate cancer and depression in men."

Starting as the result of a Sunday afternoon conversation in a Melbourne pub about 1980s fashion in 2003, Movember has grown into a near global phenomenon. This year co-founder and chief executive of the Movember Foundation Adam Garone has decided to increase its awareness in America.

He says just getting men to raise the issue is even more important than raising funds, and that's the special magic of the standalone 'tache.

"When it's somebody who doesn't normally have a moustache, the guy becomes a walking billboard . . . We want them to go home at Thanksgiving and have a dinner conversation; ask their dads and uncles if they've been screened for prostate cancer."

Last year, 13,000 New Zealanders took part in Movember raising almost $1 million for the cause.

* To see Tobi and donate, go to nz.movember.com/mospace/19955

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