Numbers are regularly tossed around like pennies into a fountain as to the quantity of dogs and cats entering US shelters each year. As claimed by the World Society for the Protection of Animals there are 6 to 8 million dogs and cats that enter shelters in the United States.

Prize sponsors, like those in centuries past, say that offering financial incentives gets new people thinking about old problems.

Anyone who has ever used treats or praise to train a canine companion knows that dogs respond to incentives. I’m sure you’re aware from your own experience that humans do, too.

Michelson Prize and Grants program spurs research into nonsurgical spay/neuter.

Let’s say there was a way for you to spay your cat without subjecting her to surgery. Would you do it? Would you neuter your dog via pill or injection?

John Herr spends every day thinking about and working toward finding a non-surgical method to sterilize dogs and cats. He has good reason to — there’s a $25 million prize at stake.

The search for a nonsurgical sterilant for dogs and cats has been fueled by more than $6 million in research grants since 2008 when a $25 million prize was offered to the first person to successfully develop a method of chemically castrating pets.

On the surface, ovarian cancer drug developer Crinetics Pharmaceuticals and the Found Animals Foundation seem to have little in common.