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The Mechanics
of How This Will Work
The pill will be used in countries where governments provide approval soonest.
Different government agencies will work at different speeds and have different requirements. Municipalities throughout the world with the greatest over population and/or rabies problems will likely be the most willing to grant approval for an alternative solution to an unrelenting problem.
We will work closely with humane societies and health officials in each locality.
The U.S. will be toward the end of the list because the over population problem for dogs and cats is much less severe in the U.S.
The U.S. also has the most regulatory requirements. Having the U.S. toward the end of the list provides more time to make arrangements to get through the U.S. approval process.
The pill will be less dangerous than poison, which is currently used to control many stray dog populations in the majority of cities and nations around the world.
The pill will be blended into bait that is flavored to taste horrible to people, yet acceptable for stray dogs. For example, it can be flavored to taste like rancid meat, which would cause adults and children to spit it out if they were to put it in their mouth.
Health departments or authorized humane societies will be responsible for administering the pills. They will place the bait in pre arranged feeding stations in targeted neighborhoods where strays are known to live.
Feeding stations are a long-standing practice already used for the feeding and baiting of many wild animal species (deer, bears, wild boars, etc.), and also for feral cats (though not yet done for contraceptive purposes).
Because dominant animals will often prevent less dominant animals from feeding, common sense will have to prevail on the part of the people from the health department and humane societies when feeding the strays, in order to compensate for this fact. When strays know there is food forthcoming, strays will often come close enough to people for the bait to be thrown directly to the individual, allowing the submissive animals to receive bait as well.
This effort can be very successful in solving the over population problem, despite the fact that 100% of the strays do not need to eat the bait each time.
For example, if only 50% of the strays were to eat the bait at any given bait station, the over population would be reduced by approximately the same percentage, each time -- a very dramatic improvement. There would likely be a 50% drop in just six months, followed by an additional significant drop six months later, and so on. Scheduled feedings will be relatively simple and are key to reaching complete success.
Stray dogs typically live in one neighborhood for most of their lives, and as such, are often referred to as "the neighborhood dogs." Concerned residents who live in the same neighborhood often recognize and can become familiar with the strays who live in their neighborhood, especially those residents who try to feed the strays. These residents can help health department officials in locating and identifying stray populations that need to be targeted.
Once the pill has been formulated and tested, the location of stray populations can easily be identified, and feeding stations can be established by local health departments.
In order for these pills to be effective, they must last (cause contraception) for at least six months, if not longer, because female dogs can become pregnant once every six months.
The next step is to fill the feeding stations with the bait at least one time every five months -- one month short of their six-month breeding cycle. This will help ensure that the animals eating from these feeding stations will not be able to reproduce during their regular six-month cycle.
This step must be repeated every five months for approximately the next four years. Given that the average life span for a stray dog is about three years, after four years of regular feedings every five months, the over-population problem should be largely resolved.
There has been some concern that endangered species such as bald eagles might eat the bait. The vast majority, if not all, stray populations are located in and around major cities. Stray dogs live in the streets and alleyways of areas highly populated by people. Though there may be some bald eagles or other endangered species also living in the same alleys, it is unlikely.
When endangered species are found to be living in the same neighborhood, we recommend against the use of feeding stations.
In such cases, we recommend that health department employees throw the bait by hand to individual stray dogs and that they not leave any bait unattended at any time. Before moving on, any bait uneaten is to be removed on the spot.
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."
-- Margaret Mead
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