Dogs having their day in research: SAVE and Spay First! conducting trials to find a way to curb unwanted births

By Erica Chayes Wida, Packet Media
For six “hero dogs” from North Dakota, arriving at the SAVE shelter in Skillman on Dec. 17 was an important step in the rest of their lives.
The dogs were delivered from a Spay FIRST! facility in Oklahoma to SAVE, the local organization that arranges pet adoptions. SAVE will be the animals’ last stop before becoming part of a loving local family — a long way from the high-kill shelter they were rescued from.
The dogs are called “hero dogs” because of the role they play in Spay FIRST’s mission to humanely solve the problem of unwanted, wild dogs and alleviate suffering on a global level. The dogs were rescued from a Native American reservation in North Dakota, some as young as puppies, preventing their fate of being round up and shot.
In impoverished areas where roaming dogs are most prevalent, spay and neuter surgeries cost too much and do not provide a systematic end to the cycle of torment, overpopulation, and death. In the United States alone, nearly 5 million dogs and 6 million cats are killed in shelters each year. In the world, close to 200 million dogs are killed as a result of overpopulation.
Spay FIRST is working to ameliorate this problem with a scientific approach and is focused on developing a single-dose injectable sterilant and contraceptive that could be administered to animals. This would be a cost-affordable alternative to spay and neuter.
The difference between a sterilant and a contraceptive is a contraceptive needs to be boostered, adding another injection and, according to Charlie Hatfield, Spay FIRST! board president and Princeton area resident, administering a booster to a contraceptive is not effective when you’re dealing with millions of dogs throughout the world.
Spay FIRST! has the ability to manufacture and market the drug, but it will remain in the public domain for government use, only to be administered to stray dogs. Since 2013, Spay FIRST! has partnered with the USDA and other entities to work on all fronts to put something in place so litters are prevented while the organization continues more involved research to bring more promise to the table.
“The status quo of eradicating hundreds of millions of dogs globally is morally corrosive to these communities,” Mr. Hatfield said. “Any time you view animals as something disposable, to get rid of as cheaply as possible in awful ways — the underbelly of this whole thing and why were trying to get this done quickly — it hurts the community.”
Worldwide, between half and three-quarters of dogs are unwanted. Whereas average lifespans of dogs in the United States are 12 years, most dogs throughout the world average a lifespan of three years — only 2.5 for females.
“What we see in this country is an aberration. In our country, it’s not an issue when many households have a dog. In free-roaming nations, he numbers are overwhelming. Seventy to 90 percent receive no veterinary care in their life,” said Ruth Steinberger, co-founder and CEO of Spay FIRST!. “We want to find an injection that works for contraception at the same time as another injection for rabies — the disease that is most often transferred to humans from dogs.”
Many developing nations, according to Ms. Steinberger, have the resources already in place to administer rabies vaccines to its strays. Spay FIRST! hopes to piggyback on the rabies vaccine and help prevent excessive procreation so these dogs do not have to suffer, be starved, drowned and killed.
After rescuing the dogs, often in the U.S. south or on plains reservations, Spay FIRST! brings them to their facility in Oklahoma where they are given food, water, play areas, human contact, taught basic manners, and live in big roomy pens during clinical trials. Ms. Steinberger and Mr. Hatfield stressed no dog has ever been harmed during a clinical trial.
Mr. Hatfield, as well as Spay FIRST’s other board members local to Princeton — Ed Meyercorde and Judy King — helped arrange a collaboration with SAVE to help these dogs get adopted once they’ve completed their trials.
“That’s the deal we make with them. If they help us, we’ll help them find a loving home. That’s where SAVE comes in,” Mr. Hatfield said.
Ms. Steinberger expressed how the dogs whom she has developed relationships with during their time being nurtured back to health, know they are safe. As they were put in their large crates before traveling from Oklahoma to New Jersey, she looked down at the two female dogs that would have — if not for their organization — not be alive today.
“I could just see how comfortable they felt. If the one dog — the fluffier of the two — had had an opposable thumb, I just know from the way she was looking at me, she would have given me a thumbs up.”
For more information on how to adopt a dog from SAVE, visit www.save-animals.org. For more information on Spay FIRST!, visit www.spayfirst.org.