Hot Updates

ACC&D Vice-Chair Reports on Campaign in the Dominican Republic using Chemical Sterilization
Dr. Bob Weedon, vice-chair of ACC&D’s board (and director of veterinary outreach for the Alliance for Rabies Control), recently spent two weeks in the Dominican Republic working on a vaccination and sterilization campaign with the nonprofit, Animal Balance. They vaccinated almost 500 dogs for rabies, spayed over 150 female dogs, and sterilized 55 male dogs with EsterilSol, an injectable sterilant. In meetings with officials, Dr. Weedon and Animal Balance had tremendous success advocating for humane population control, including chemical sterilization of male dogs, as an alternative to culling. Other outcomes include a new plan for a national rabies prevention program. All in all, it was a great success!

Dr. Weedon will be returning to the Dominican Republic in August to train other veterinarians in the use of EsterilSol and to assist with the rabies control plan.

Click here to read Dr. Weedon’s report on the trip

4th International Symposium Proceedings Now Available!
ACC&D's 4th International Symposium on Non-Surgical Methods of Pet Population Control was held April 8-10, 2010, in Dallas, Texas, U.S. Over 185 participants from 25 countries came together to explore the latest science and to learn more about existing products. Complete proceedings are now available, including a report on highlights and outcomes, written abstracts, PowerPoint presentations, scientific posters, PowerPoint presentations with presenter's audio recorded onto them, videos, audio recordings, speaker biographies, attendee list, and more.

Click here to access the full proceedings library

ACC&D Awards Three More EsterilSol Grants
ACC&D is pleased to announce that funding has been awarded to three organizations to help them begin using the injectable sterilant, EsterilSol, to sterilize male dogs in their population control programs. Veterinarians Without Borders-Canada/Veterinaires Sans Frontieres received a grant for a project in Mafil, Chile, and Animal Balance was provided with a grant to support their projects in the Dominican Republic, Galapagos Islands, and Samoan Islands. These grants were generously sponsored by The Handsel Foundation and The Pegasus Foundation. A fourth grant, sponsored by Best Friends Animal Society, was recently approved for the Sierra Leone Animal Welfare Society. We were delighted to see representatives of each of these organizations at our recent 4th International Symposium, which included a full-day session focused on EsterilSol and including injection training and demonstration.

Click here to learn more about EsterilSol and the EsterilSol Small Grants Program
 

ACC&D Awards First EsterilSol Grant
ACC&D started the EsterilSol Small Grants Program to help nonprofits outside the U.S. take advantage of the opportunity to sterilize male dogs with an injection. EsterilSol makes it possible to sterilize male dogs without changing their male appearance or behaviors, which is important to many dog owners, particularly in some cultures. The relatively low price and ease of administration can also make it possible to sterilize more dogs without increasing expense or time.

Grantee Profile: Sentir Animal's projects for companion animals include weekend sterilization and education clinics in communities in and around Cali, Colombia. Many owners refuse to have their male dogs castrated because they don't want them emasculated; only 14% of the dogs brought into the clinics are male.Cost of surgery is another obstacle for Sentir Animal. A faster and less expensive method of sterilization will allow them to help more dogs with sterilization and owner education.

The grant will cover training-related travel expenses and help purchase injections for over 750 dogs.

Sentir Animal's Liliana Sierra contacted ACC&D last fall asking if we could help her organization use EsterilSol. Her appeal was one of several which inspired us to establish the EsterilSol Small Grants Program. We are delighted to award the first EsterilSol grant to this impressive organization!

First Three Projects Approved for Michelson Grant Funding
Found Animals has approved funding for three promising research proposals! The Michelson Prize and Grants is intended to attract scientists to this field, and that’s very much been the case. In fact, in under a year, Found Animals has received over 80 letters of intent and invited over 25 full applications.

For decades there has been extremely little funding available for this work, and that’s meant extremely slow progress toward our goal. We knew the Michelson Prize and Grants had amazing potential to spur work in this field, and we’re thrilled to see that happening! 

ACC&D sponsors Vets Without Borders/Vétérinaires sans Frontières-Canada project using EsterilSol™ in remote Guatemala
ACC&D was pleased to sponsor a Veterinarians Without Borders/Vétérinaires sans Frontières-Canada (VWB/VSF) campaign using the injectable sterilant EsterilSol™ as part of a multi-faceted project in the remote community of Todos Santos, Guatemala. During the implementation phase of the project, 126 male dogs were sterilized with EsterilSol. This approach was selected as the method of sterilization for male dogs because of its relative ease in administration—critical for this small team to perform the greatest number of sterilization procedures with limited resources. Learning from this campaign will expand understanding about EsterilSol; further learning about EsterilSol and other current approaches to non-surgical fertility control is critical to ensure that these products can be used most effectively. 

Please visit the VWB web site to read the detailed Interim Report and click here to view photos from the campaign. You can view our EsterilSol FAQ by clicking here.

We extend our thanks to the Parsemus Foundation and the Pegasus Foundation for underwriting our sponsorship of this project.

Infertile®, a new injectable sterilant for male dogs, is introduced in Brazil
In early March, a new injectable sterilant for male dogs was introduced in Brazil. Infertile® is similar to EsterilSol and Neutersol, with the same active ingredient and method of administration. However, there are important differences between the products. Please click here to read our preliminary statement on Infertile in English. A Portuguese version of the statement is available here. If your organization has first-hand experience with Infertile, please contact us at info@acc-d.org.

 
Suffering in Slums: The global stray dog problem
The stray dog problem is a truly global issue – at this very moment there are millions of dogs on the streets and in slums, outside in all weather, with nothing to call home other than the bare dirty pavement. They fight over the limited amounts of food available and suffer from agonizing diseases such as rabies and distemper...

Click here to read the article from the World Society for Protection of Animals (WSPA)

$75 million offered for single dose sterilization of cats and dogs
ACC&D is delighted to be working with Found Animals to advance development of non-surgical sterilization for cats and dogs. The Found Animals Foundation is offering a $25M prize and up to $50M in grants.
Read the release here
Visit Found Animals' web site


New Studies Say Contraceptive Tools for Pets Will Need More Support from Veterinarians to Move into Mainstream Market
Someday, Fido and Miss Kitty may be sterilized by a single injection rather than surgery. But before that day can happen, veterinarians need to become more supportive of the research and development of pet contraceptive tools, says the Alliance for Contraception in Cats and Dogs (ACC&D), a nonprofit organization focused on saving the lives of pets by advancing the introduction of non-surgical alternatives in the marketplace. Read the release and survey highlights here. Visit our Resources page to read the full reports on each study.

U.S. Neutersol® launch cancelled
The Alliance for Contraception in Cats and Dogs (ACC&D) has recently learned that the reintroduction of Neutersol into the United States has been cancelled, with the termination of a contract between the company that was going to distribute the product and the patent-holder of the product.

“We are so very disappointed by this news”, says Joyce Briggs, ACC&D President. “There is a segment of the U.S. population which is averse to castrating their male dogs, and this FDA-approved non-surgical sterilant had real potential to help expand population control programs to reach those dogs.” Neutersol was originally introduced in the U.S. in 2003 and was available until the patent-holder and original distributor severed ties in early 2005. A reintroduction plan was introduced in 2006, and since then ACC&D has worked in a private/public partnership with the new marketing company to develop plans for a shelter advisory board and programs to aid the reintroduction.

According to Briggs, “ACC&D will shift our focus to the use of this product internationally, where the largest potential for saving lives exists, and where, in developing nations, veterinary surgery is a scarce commodity.” The product, branded as Esterilsol™, has recently been introduced by Ark Sciences in Mexico.

ACC&D continues to focus on supporting scientific initiatives aimed toward non-surgical sterilization solutions for cats, and female dogs.

FeralStat™
There’s been a lot of e-mail and chat room buzz recently about FeralStat, a contraceptive being distributed by a Connecticut veterinarian. This contraceptive food additive for feral cats sounds too good to be true. Unfortunately, that appears to be the case. Find out why by clicking here. (The companion piece on megestrol acetate-the active ingredient in FeralStat-can be found here.)

Esterilsol™
You’ve likely heard about Neutersol—the first permanent injectable sterilant for male dogs to receive regulatory approval in the U.S. Well, Ark Sciences, a new animal health company, recently announced the Mexico launch of Esterilsol, the Latin American version of Neutersol. Ark Sciences has not yet announced details on pricing or availability, but are inviting inquiries to info@arksciences.com.

We are excited to see this tool introduced in Latin America, where economic challenges and cultural resistance to castration make sterilizing male dogs particularly difficult. Ark Sciences has signed Julio Cesar Chavez—a well-known retired Mexican boxer—as the Esterilsol spokesperson.

We’ll keep you posted on progress with Esterilsol, including potential import opportunities for other Latin American countries.