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$75 Million Dollars to One Smart Cookie

Okay, so I didn't do a write up about the Feline Forum yet, but in lieu of proper review, here's a tidbit to tide you over from a brochure I picked up at the Conference:

I'd like you all to check out Alliance for Contraception in Dogs & Cats. Their mission is to find a non-surgical solution to humanely control cat and dog populations around the world. Imagine, a simple shot, given to a puppy in a third world country where Vets are in short supply and funds to pay for neutering are nil. Imagine a way to control feral cat colonies in a way that's safe and less stressful for all concerned, also, the money saved by not having to pay for surgeries could be used for educational programs or to put towards emergency medical costs.

Instead of imagining all of this, there is already a product being used in male dogs under 10 months old called, EsterilSol™/Neutersol® (who comes up with these names!). I hate to tell you that this, but the drug is delivered via a shot directly into each testicle. Over time, the testicle withers away. Boohoo. Bye bye teste! (Sorry to my male reader/s!) I kind of wish I had this shot for a few of my ex-boyfriends! Also, I'd like to see them try to do this to a cat! Yeah. I knew I shoulda got those Kevlar lined, elbow length gloves I saw at the Feline Forum! (it's not FDA approved for cats just yet, by the way)

Thanks to Dr. Michelson, who is SUPER RICH and is a great advocate for finding a solution to the troubling problem of pet overpopulation, he's put up $75 MILLION BUCKS in grants and prizes to the first "entity to provide a single dose sterilant for male and female cats and dogs." If you're a super genius, visit Michelson Prize & Grants in Reproductive Biology for more info.

Maybe you're not an uber genius, but you want your shelter or rescue organization to support the efforts of ACC&D. They're looking for folks to join their worthy cause. You can find out how you can help by visiting HERE.

Imagine...no more need for KILL SHELTERS, followed by no more OVERCROWDED shelters...followed by?? What do you think will happen to the pet population if there one day IS single dose sterilization product for cats and dogs? No more shelters at all??

Comments

$75 mil.. Dad was right. I shouldn't have given up biology to major in art.
Nice to see this effort to develop better contraceptive options for pets.

Hope they find something! Clearly, I picked the wrong major, too... :)

No offense to the ladies out there of course..But the girl cats are the problem!

If you sterilize a male, he will stop defending property. Other, intact males will come in to fill the resulting hole. The queens in heat will attract them from miles around!

A single intact male can fertilize dozens of queens in a short period of time, and each queen is responsible for up to five litters of kittens a year! The most effective population control for animals is to sterilize the females.

A bit of a more grim analogy would be, you don't shoot factory workers to stop war production, you bomb the factories.

Yes, I suppose if you can get to ALL the males, you will stop the breeding. But this just isn't feasible.

Either way, I hope this research continues; it's only a matter of time before they figure out a way to do this for female animals. Then we'll REALLY see a reduction in the number of shelter animals.

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