Non-Surgical Sterilization Methods in Male Animals: A Review

Abstract

Non-surgical sterilization technique in animals is an ancient practice and dates back to 7000 BC. Surgical castration in animals
has been applied for centuries to control the animal population, advance genetic selection, improve calmness of aggressive animals and mainly to ensure and selectively provide high-quality meat production for human consumption. An ideal method of
castration should cause permanent block to spermatogenesis and inhibit androgenetic enzymes with low-cost of treatment and
doesn’t affect the welfare of the animal. Even if operative methods are the main methods of castration, hormonal castration and
chemical castration are also an alternative and equivalent method of sterilization. Over the past years, non-surgical sterilization has
found application in male dogs, cats, monkeys, goats, bulls, hamsters and rabbits. Calcium chloride, lactic acid, sodium chloride,
chlorhexidine, formalin, zinc tannate, zinc gluconate, glycerol, glucose, ethanol and silver nitrate are commonly used in chemical
castration. After intratesticular application, degeneration of seminiferous tubules and Leydig cells, decrease in testosterone and
sperm production, testicular atrophy is observed. In this review, the approaches of chemical castration were mentioned in different male animals.