No To Premarin!

The Product
Premarin® is a drug whose name originates from a key ingredient, pregnant mare's urine. It is prescribed to alleviate the symptoms of menopause by substituting equine estrogens for those naturally produced by the human body. According to 2000 statistics, there are approximately 450 farms in Canada and 50 farms in the U.S., located in North Dakota, Minnesota, and Indiana withapproximately 60,000 mares being used to produce this urine.
The Business
Pregnant mares used for Premarin® production are confined to narrow tie stalls where they cannot turn or lie down for weeks at a time without release for exercise. Regulations only require that the mares be turned out for two hours every two weeks. This chronic lack of exercise can cause severe swelling of the legs, breakdown ofthe hoof structure and sets the stage for colic.
Stalled horses yearn for release. Taking some mares out of the stable will create a major disturbance among those left behind. The manpower necessary to frequently unhook the mares from the urine collection harness for regular exercise would also decrease the farmer's profit margin. Premarin® farming is an $800,000,000 a year industry. Observers aredenied access to PMU farms except for visits previously arranged. Wyeth-Ayrest now claims that some specific reforms, for example: discontinuing the practice of withholding water to concentrate the mare's urine, have been initiated in response to pressure from humane groups. What is certain is that intense scrutiny is needed for an industry with a long history of inhumane abuses.
The FoalsAlthough controversy surrounds the state of the Premarin® producing mares, one fact is clear: 60,000 grade foals produced in isolated regions of central Canada have almost no chance to find homes as sport horses, working horses or pets. The majority will become casualties of slaughter. The two to five month old foals are taken from their mothers in early September and sent to auctions where they aresold by the pound to meatpackers.
TIER representatives have observed the Manitoba horsemeat auctions in 2001 and, although over 250 foals and 4 PMU mares were rescued in 2001, through a joint effort with the United Pegasus Foundation, it is heartbreaking to witness thousands of innocent foals destined to slaughter. At one auction alone, 1,050 foals went through the auction process. Over 800 ofthese foals went to meat buyers.
What the Doctors are Saying
Premarin May Be Hazardous, Doctors Say. The most widely prescribed drug for menopausal women comes at a controversial price. According to animal rights activists, the hormone Premarin is made from urine from pregnant mares, and the mares can endure horrible conditions while their urine is collected. http://www.wildmustangcoalition.org/id35.html
According to animal rights activists, the hormone Premarin is made from urine from pregnant mares, and the mares can endure horrible conditions while their urine is collected, WLWT Eyewitness News 5 reported.
"Premarin stands for pregnant mares' urine and that's where it comes from," horse owner Kim Stauch said. "People are shocked that it comes from that."
How is the estrogen-richurine collected? More than 75,000 pregnant horses are hooked up to collection devices. The process means chaining them up in stalls and keep them as still as possible for as long as five months at a time, according to WLWT.
Chris DeRose, spokesman for the group Last Chance For Animals, is among the animal rights activists who believe the process is abusive.
"Inside the barns, you see ice on thewalls, and they have to lay down on cold, ice-cold concrete floors," DeRose said. "What they go through is absolutely miserable."
DeRose said that tens of thousands of mares are impregnated and tied up each year. The horses get no exercise and little water until they give birth.
And what happens to the foals after they are born?
"The ones that don't get adopted go to slaughter," DeRose said....