600million.org: Celebrity Supporters

Every day around the world stray dogs are shot, beaten and tortured to death in the name of “population control” in the millions. This is the direct result of unregulated reproduction in the stray dog community which produces an estimated one to two billion puppies each year; and to date, there has not been a practical, effective, affordable means of solving this problem. But one man has set out to do just that—and based on his track record of past successes and the solution he proposes, he may just succeed.

The man is Alex Pacheco, perhaps best known as the diplomatic and disarming “boy” co-founder of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). PETA is widely acknowledged as the most successful animal advocacy organization in the world, and has been responsible for unprecedented corporate, government, institutional and social changes improving the living and dying conditions for millions of animals. Pacheco was the chairman of PETA for 20 years and retired 10 years ago. He has come out of retirement to helm what he calls his “legacy” project: 600million.org.

600million.org takes its name from the estimated 600 million stray dogs thought to subsist around the world on any given day. The facts of their existence are alarming and heart breaking. In the many nations that have practically no laws against cruelty to animals, dogs are tortured, poisoned, hung, beaten to death, electrocuted and even thrown off of bridges. The mass killing of dogs is increasingly common, and in fact ordered by governments before high profile media events and includes reports of estimates such as: 30,000 stray dogs beaten to death in a single mass killing in 2008 in Beijing China; 40,000 stray dogs were poisoned to death just before the Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece in 2004; 45,000 dogs were poisoned to death just before the Environmental Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 2006 and the cycle continues. In America, over a billion taxpayer dollars are spent every year to “deal with” the domestic animal overpopulation problem. Globally, stray dogs are also a major source of rabies infections in humans.

But there is hope for and a viable solution to this far reaching problem. The key is reducing reproduction rates in the stray community and www.600million.org is spearheading the development and approval of sterilization pills which can do just that. Far less costly, and logistically simpler than spay or neuter surgeries, these pills have the potential to end the killing of stray dogs, by ending dog overpopulation.

The goal of 600million.org is building a network to approve and ultimately facilitate production and distribution of these pills to the poorest places in the world where children are dying from rabies and where animals suffer the most.

According to Alex Pacheco, “Once approved by regulatory agencies in various countries, these pills can bring an end to the number-one problem of humane societies, and because the number one cause of dog suffering in the world is overpopulation, these pills can create the single largest ‘ending of animal suffering’ in history. We are confident that the drop in the killing of dogs will be unprecedented, the financial savings by humane societies will be unprecedented, and the friction between Kill and No-Kill groups can be ended. But before we can do all of this we have to pay to have these pills approved by the FDA, which is why we’re trying to raise money right now”.

Veterinarian Dr. Jeffrey Young, founder of the non- profit Planned Pethood International adds, “The dog sterilization pill is the most viable solution to the dog overpopulation problem I have ever seen in my entire professional career in veterinary medicine. The data shows these pills are safe, do not pose a risk to people, and are environmentally clean. Though not yet FDA approved, these pills are capable of ending the euthanizing of millions of dogs every year, by ending the dog overpopulation problem – without surgery and without killing”.

Through education, awareness and donations 600million is making a difference to break the cycle of misery in the stray dog population. Adequate funding will support the development of this sterilization pill and permit the global production and distribution which will ultimately stop the senseless killing of millions of dogs around the world.