The United States has come a long way in the sterilization of our companion animals since the 1970s when the movement for spay/neuter got underway. At that time, shelters euthanized some 20 million dogs and cats each year.
Today the number of companion animals that die in U.S. shelters is around four million.
While this is major progress compared to 40 years ago, it is still a heartbreakingly high figure. And where the U.S. has made great strides with spay/neuter programs, many developing countries lack the financial and veterinary resources to mount large-scale sterilization programs.
An article in the Sept. 2009 issue of Science magazine notes that “humane organizations in the U.S. can’t surgically sterilize homeless dogs and cats fast enough to control their numbers and developing countries with dangerous feral dog populations – such as China and India – fare even worse.” The hope is for some nonsurgical contraceptive to help control the number of homeless animals.
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The Quest for Nonsurgical Sterilization
One organization that has been working for the past decade to expedite the successful introduction of methods to nonsurgically sterilize dogs and cats is the Alliance for Contraception in Cats and Dogs (ACC&D). The Portland, Ore., based nonprofit 501(c)(3) works to raise awareness among the research and pharmaceutical community about the need for such products and brings together researchers to share information about their work.
ACC&D has been instrumental in getting many of the large humane and animal welfare organizations involved in its efforts. Organizational partners include the ASPCA, The Humane Society of the United States, Best Friends Animal Society and The World Society for the Protection of Animals, as well as smaller regional groups like the Long Beach Humane Society and SPCA Serving Erie County, to name just a few.
Karen Green, ACC&D director of outreach, explains that to control free-roaming populations of cats and dogs, a one-time treatment is needed. “When you’re working with feral cats or street dogs, a product that requires a monthly booster would be impractical.”
However, science has been challenged to develop a method providing permanent sterilization in one treatment. The physiological differences between males and females and between cats and dogs, are an additional hurdle.
Adding to the challenge, Green notes, is the diversity of a community’s needs, resources and desires related to population control. For instance, in the U.S., pet owners have an expectation that sterilization will result in behavioral changes in their pets, such as a reduction in urine marking. But in much of Latin America, there’s a cultural resistance to castration because dog owners don’t want their dog’s behavior to change.
All of this is not to say there has not been some progress in producing nonsurgical sterilization products with a range of applications and effects. Neutersol is a permanent injectable sterilant for dogs that was actually developed in the U.S. and approved by FDA. Neutersol is not currently available in the U.S., but its Latin American equivalent, EsterilSol, is being marketed in Mexico. Another product Suprelorin is an implant the size of a microchip that provides six or 12 months contraception for male dogs, depending on the dose. It is approved in Australia, New Zealand and in several EU countries.
Major Funding Accelerates Research
The future of some product or products for nonsurgical sterilization got a major boost in October of 2008 when billionaire inventor and human doctor -- and animal lover -- Gary Michelson announced he was offering a $25 million prize to anyone who comes up with a with a safe, effective, and practical nonsurgical sterilant for use in cats and dogs. He also offered grants totaling up to $50 million to encourage research in the area.
The money is being offered by Michelson through his nonprofit Found Animals Foundation, which he established in 2005 to apply scientific and innovative thinking as part of the solution to pet overpopulation problems. So far Found Animals has approved funding for three promising research proposals.
Read more about ACC&D's work.
Comments
Actually, Neutersol is not exactly permanent. There have been cases of the testes becoming capable of producing sperm. However, it's certainly better than nothing. Wonderfully, Senestech is developing a drug that permanently sterilizes female dogs and if the female dog is pregnant, the female pups will be sterile but otherwise unharmed. The drug is being used in New Zealand to sterilize rodents. I spoke with the Senestech VP a few months ago and they are making great progress. We should all keep our fingers crossed for this would make sterilization easier on our pets, on shelters, on vets, and reduced the overpopulation problem significantly.
I am interested in this Suprelorin. Do tell us more!
I have IMMENSE respect for ACC&D-- bravo for all they (and others like them) do!!
You know, back in the "olden" days (and even now-- the Wise Women, and/or the Medicin Men/Women KNEW which herb casued temporary(?) or permanent (?) sterility.
Let's ALL put our heads together with NO need for censure or ridicule to find the answer to this huge tragic problem..AND while we are at it, let's keep TRYING to educate the mass public (who can afford this, which in many places, IS an affordable option) about the NEED to spay and neuter their pets.
Ace
Thanks for your comments, April. I thought you might be interested in some additional information:
Re: Neutersol/EsterilSol-
No medical intervention is 100% safe or 100% effective (surgical spay/neuter included, of course). However, with a 99.6% success rate, Neutersol is actually more effective than the birth control most humans use on themselves! More info at www.acc-d.org/Neutersol
Re: Suprelorin-
You can find out more about Suprelorin on our site as well. Go to www.acc-d.org/About and click on "current approaches" for overviews of currently available contraceptives (those with at least 6 months duration) and sterilants, along with links to more information.
Re: Future tools-
Senestech is one of a number of groups working toward the goal of a single-dose sterilant for cats and dogs. Joining our e-mail update list (www.acc-d.org) to be kept updated on various projects.
Questions? You can reach us at info@acc-d.org.
Thanks for your interest!
I wondered if anybody has any information about contraceptives for female cats - not permanent, but long-term, for example. It seems very hard to find anything online, and I imagined that at least the EU and UK must have something around those lines.
Hi AK,
There are products used for cat contraception in a number of countries but they must be given quite regularly (daily or weekly) to maintain contraception. There are no cat contraceptives approved by regulatory agencies and available on the market which last 6 months or longer.
Interestingly, Suprelorin (a product approved and available for 6 and 12 months contraception of male dogs in Australia, New Zealand, and a number of countries in the European Union) has been shown to work in several other mammalian species and in females. Many U.S. zoos use Suprelorin for contraception of big cats. However, use of Suprelorin in domestic cats has not been widely studied. Use in pet cats would be "off-label" use of the product. You can find out more about Suprelorin and other contraceptive and sterilant products on our website at www.acc-d.org/About (then scroll down to "current approaches").
My husband's mission in life as a vet, is spay/neutering every dog and cat in Colorado, I believe. He has worked for two separate large shelters and volunteered on a feral cat spay/neuter van for TNR in the Denver metro area. It is a rare day when he has not performed 20-30 surgeries. He is also working with students and lecturing at CSU. Hopefully, he can mentor and teach vet students to provide efficient, effective, and much quicker surgeries. "Turn and burn" methods of basic energy conservation are necessary to learn, and not really taught well in school. This is important in order to neutralize or spay/neuter a larger number of dogs and cats effectively, safely, and efficiently. Also, as a minor point, less animals are lost due to being under anesthesia for too long.
A non-surgical alternative? A miracle for sure. But not likely cost effective, in my lifetime. I think everyone looks forward to that day because cost is really the only reason more are not spay/neutered. But, bravo
WE HERE AT PFAR,WOULD LIKE TO USE ONE OF YOUR PHOTOS ABOVE AND A PIECE OF YOUR ARTICLE ON OUR ANIMAL RIGHTS SITE.PLEASE CONTACT THE FOUNDER MIRANDA AT OUR EMAIL ABOVE ^ THANK YOU.
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