Veterinary Medicine

Unfortunately, millions of animals are not lucky enough to have access to a veterinarian. Some belong to people who can’t afford to bring them to a vet. Many more have no formal caregiver at all. These animals suffer and die at alarming rates. Homelessness accounts for more dog and cat deaths in the U.S. than any illness or injury: estimates put the number at around 4 million per year.

ACC&D was established to address the problem of dog and cat suffering and death on a global level by furthering development of new methods to control cat and dog reproduction. Over the past several decades, it has become clear that pet sterilization programs (for both owned animals and free-roaming animals such as feral cats and street dogs) are the key to reducing the shelter intake, euthanasia rates, and suffering of unowned animals. But traditional spay/neuter programs require an administrative infrastructure, facilities, sterile surgical suites, and substantial amounts of time. Some existing spay/neuter programs serving only indigent pet keepers have waiting lists of up to three months. Imagine how many more animals we could reach, and how much more efficiently, if we could safely and effectively sterilize a cat or dog with a simple injection.

ACC&D is working with scientists from around the world to identify and support promising approaches for non-surgical cat and dog population control. These tools will allow us to address animal death and suffering with exponentially more impact.

For household pets, these products will offer an alternative to spay/neuter surgery. For veterinarians, these products will offer a new option for pet contraception and/or sterilization as well as profit margin comparable to that from a spay/neuter surgery, but requiring far less of your time and other resources.

ACC&D is proud to work closely with veterinarians and veterinary organizations (such as the AVMA and AAHA) as board members, advisors, colleagues, and supporters. We know that successful introduction of these products depends to a great degree on your support. We look forward to working with you to make sure that when these products are introduced, you are as excited as we are!

Your input is vitally important to us and we welcome you to contact us to become part of this important work by sharing your ideas, questions, and comments. Veterinary leadership will help insure that developed products meet the needs of companion animals, pet keepers, and practitioners.

Visit the links below and the menu at the top of the page to learn more. And please join our email list (sign-up box on right) so that we can keep you updated on progress in this field.

Veterinary Medicine Links of Interest
Hot Updates, Status of Current Approaches, Publications
ACC&D's Agenda for Advancement and Priorities for Non-Surgical Contraceptive Products
AVMA Position Statement on Non-Surgical Contraception

(From the Proceedings of ACC&D's Third International Symposium)
Brief Post-Event Report
Veterinarians as Partners: advancing animal health, advancing the profession
Who Needs a Non-Surgical Sterilant Anyway?
Neutersol: what worked, what didn't, what's next
Non-reproductive Effects of Spaying and Neutering
Summary of the Science
Creating Future Pathways: action plans and collaborations