Philanthropist Offers $25M for new pet Sterilization Technique
Spaying and neutering have definite health benefits for the pets that undergo the procedures. However, the procedures are not without their pitfalls. Surgical sterilization, as the name implies, involves anesthesia and surgery. Surgery may be painful. Complications, although rare, can occur. And, significantly, the availability of surgical sterilization has not eliminated pet overpopulation and the attendant euthanasia of perfectly healthy cats and dogs.
Vets and animal lovers have been dreaming for years of a simpler way to prevent pet overpopulation. Sadly, that dream is nowhere near reality.
However, a philanthropic organization has taken an important first step towards the goal. Following the successful example of the Ansari X prize, the organization is motivating people to find a solution to pet overpopulation using a tried-and-true tactic. They are offering a huge wad of cash to the person or group that develops a simple, safe, easy to administer, single dose pet sterilization technique.
You can read more about the prize (called the Michelson Prize) here.
The reality of such a technique is still far away. However, I suspect that the Michelson Prize help motivate researchers to achieve the goal.
You have questions. 
like? a birth control? or like a hormone that would basically render all reproductive organs useless? would it also have the benefits of an OVH? or a neuter? such as, prostate cancer prevention, or mammary cancer prevention?
Sounds great, but the priority should be human overpopulation.
I was unaware of this topic but am now totally enthralled. My concern however is that with such a development I would hate to see this forced on the human population as well.
I don’t understand why people are concerned about this being forced on people, we already have laws forcing people to have their pets physically desexed and the benefits of it are widely published and spouted by nearly all animal rights and many animal welfare organizations (these benefits would be the same for humans as well), but we haven’t had any problems with spaying/neutering for people. Personally I think it’s a great advance in veterinary medicine, and if it doesn’t take away all the growth hormones (thus reducing the risks of traditional altering) and only requires one injection, then I think that’s fantastic.
I am totally all for spaying and neutering and for the animals to have the least amount of pain and fastest recovery afterwards. This plan to sterilize cats and dogs with a shot or pill to stop overpopulation and euthanasia seems great at first glance, HOWEVER, it sounds like if all this research is done, then thousands of animals would be subjected to terrible, painful, invasive, and probably fruitless experimentation. That would be horrible
I have heard of Quinacrine being used with some success as a non-surgical method of sterilization in human women. I wonder if that could be adapted for use in female animals?