 | Lucky Star Spay Neuter Program News
A Publication of the Lucky Star Spay Neuter Program
12 Birch Lane Morristown, NJ 07960 Email: luckystarprogram@att.net
Volume 52 October 2012 |
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| Our Mission: To gather, recognize and celebrate the continuing annual commitment of each of our member veterinarians to provide some level of absolutely free spay neuter services to the needy animals of their choice, along with any other free services they choose to provide. |
Our Lucky Stars
We are proud to present this roster of Lucky Star Veterinarians. Together these 18 professionals have generously pledged 376 absolutely free spay neuter surgeries & other free services for needy animals of their choice in 2012, for which they have our admiration & thanks:
Dr. Ohad Barnea, Cliffside & Tenafly Animal Hospitals
Dr. Sarah Barnes, Eleos Veterinary Service
Dr. Erno Hollo & Dr. Kelly Vex Basking Ridge Animal Hospital
Dr. Harvey E. Hummel,Andover Animal Hospital
Dr. Danci Mock, West Caldwell Animal Hospital
Dr. Maritza Perez, West Orange Animal Hospital
Dr. P. Picone, Audubon Veterinary Associates
Dr. Sandra Stalder-Frey, Alpha Veterinary Care
Dr. Carolyn Wooley, MCSNIP, Pennington
Dr. Laura Acosta, Dr. Iris M. Biely, Dr. David Croman, Dr. Laurie Heeb, Dr. Diana Knight, Dr. Peter Midgley-DiGeronimo, Dr. Faith Perrin & Dr. Michelle Wong, People for Animals, Inc, Hillside
More survey feedback
(1) So Lucky Stars can share/explore S/N initiatives/ideas /with each other, we can send to “members only” an annual “directory” w/ bio & contact info. for LS’s wishing to be listed. [We’ll collect info in Dec and publish in February.] (2) The LS 2012 press release has been updated. Feel free to send it to any news outlet in your area or let me know where you’d like me to send it. We can also tailor a newsletter-style version for your use to include more about YOU individually! Let me know!
We won’t make this a habit, but.....
The topic below seems important enough to break our 1 pg. rule.............
Zeuterin in US by year-end 2012
The following is an excerpt from a more complete August 2012 article by Dr. Karen Becker available at: http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2012/08/15/new-dog-sterilization-technique.aspx
“An injectable chemical sterilization drug will be available for use in the U.S. by the end of this year. It is currently FDA-approved only for dogs from 3 to 10 months, but the manufacturer believes it will be approved as safe for all dogs 3 months and older by the time it is released. The drug, brand name Zeuterin, contains zinc gluconate neutralized by arginine. It acts as a spermicide and causes irreversible fibrosis of the testicles, which eventually atrophy and shrink in size, but remain visible. Upon its initial release, Zeuterin will be made available primarily to shelters and spay-neuter clinics. The drug can only be sold to licensed veterinarians who have been trained in the injection procedure by the manufacturer. The drug is highly effective at sterilizing male dogs with a single injection in each testicle. There are some side effects which seem primarily related to the injection technique. It’s important to understand no sterilization procedure is completely risk-free, short or long-term. Once Zeuterin is widely available to private veterinary practitioners, we encourage dog owners to discuss with their vet the pros and cons of the procedure vs. traditional spaying or neutering.”
Interestingly, many reader comments were quite negative. Lucky Star shared the entire article with the Alliance for Contraception in Cats and Dogs, which then added the following to the comment chain:
“Being quite familiar with this sterilization procedure, including having witnessed veterinary training and use of the product, I am surprised by the strong negative reaction here. I think readers may be imagining a procedure that is much different than the reality. I found Dr. Becker's review to be clear, concise, and well-supported. As she said, any sterilization method carries risks along with benefits. For those who have decided to have their male dog sterilized, the availability of multiple options is a benefit. Many pet owners and animal welfare organizations are eager to have this alternative method available. It's difficult to tell how many of the negative responses are from people who have specific concerns about this sterilization approach vs. those who believe that male dogs should not be sterilized and/or that pets should not be treated with drugs or chemicals. In the first case, I encourage people to learn more through the sources Dr. Becker has provided. In the latter case, please consider that most of the ~billion dogs and cats in the world do not have "owners" in the Western sense. If they are not sterilized, they live short, dangerous lives producing unwanted litters that face great suffering and early demise. Even pets with owners are rarely managed adequately to prevent unwanted litters. You may not need new methods of sterilization to care for your pet, but advances in this area are desperately needed to save lives and prevent suffering on a global scale. Readers may be interested to know that there is a great deal of work underway to develop more non-surgical sterilization methods.
Visit www.acc-d.org and www.Michelson.foundanimals.org to learn more.”
........Karen at the Alliance for Contraception in Cats & Dogs
Next issue: December 1st
We welcome all news about S/N & practice news from any of our Lucky Stars. Visit www.luckystarprogram.org. Call or email with input or questions anytime.
Vet Tech Appreciation Week
In the United States & Canada, veterinary technicians & animal health technologists are being recognized the week of October 14–20, 2012, as important members of the animal health care team. We especially love their spay/neuter assistance!
“Dr. DREW” Advocates for S/N
Teens & young adults are some of the biggest fans of this MD turned modern media relationship advisor & addiction medicine specialist.
One Page or two... Never Enough Room for a big enough thank you!
 Thank you Lucky Stars for giving of yourselves to provide the gift of spay/neuter to a needy animal, and thereby to each animal in the otherwise endless chain that you have now spared. “No one can do everything...”, but you have elected to do something, something special that rolls forward...
for good....forever.....with your single step!!
PDF Version
 Lucky Star News Volume 52 October 2012.pdf
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