PREMARIN INFORMATION

What is Premarin?…as the name implies, Premarin is a conjugated estrogen product extracted from PREGNANT MARES URINE - hence Pre mar in. It is manufactured by Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories, Inc. and is most commonly prescribed for estrogen replacement therapy to relieve hormonal deficiency symptoms associated with menopause. It also is sold under the name Prempro.

There are an estimated 500 PMU farms in North America, with the vast majority located in the prairie provences of Western Canada. About 30 PMU farms exist in North Dakota and Minnesota. Almost all PMU farms are under an exclusive contract with Wyeth-Ayerst.

The mares are kept in deplorable conditions. They enter collection barns in September and remain until March or April. Each mare is kept tethered in a narrow stall with a rubber cup positioned over her vulva to collect the urine flow. The cup is held in place by overhead supports and a partial body harness. The tether and collection apparatus greatly restrict movement and the mare is unable to turn around or take more than a step or two in any direction. If the tether is too short, she may even be unable to lie down comfortably.

Reliable estimates indicate there are at least 50,000 production mares on PMU farms accounting for the annual birth of approximately 40,000 offspring. The byproducts of Premarin production are the foals born to these unfortunate mares. The foals are allowed to nurse and be with their mothers for only three to four months - instead of the normal six-month period. When the time comes for the mares to return to the collection barns, the farmers dispose of surplus foals. Thousands of foals are sent to unsheltered feedlots until they reach a desirable market weight and then they are slaughtered and their carcasses are shipped to Europe and Asia for human consumption.

The conditions the mares and foals are kept in are horrendous. Inspection reports document a number of significant problems - confinement for six months of their 11-month pregnancy, no exercise, no interaction with other horses, inadequate bedding, no grooming and the feet are usually neglected. They are even denied adequate water to keep the urine in a more concentrated stage and, therefore, reduce shipping costs of the urine.

I urge you to share this information with anyone you know who is either on Premarin or is thinking of using a hormone replacement drug. There are many, many drugs on the market that are either synthetic or plant based which give the same results as Premarin. Premarin is the only drug that is animal based.

H.O.R.S.E. of CT conducts a fund-raising drive each summer to raise funds to save some of these Premarin foals. If you would like to be on our mailing list and would like to share our Premarin letter with friends, please send us your address. Our on-going struggle is, of course, financial. Membership dues, as well as donations, large and small, are what have helped H.O.R.S.E. of CT rescue hundreds of horses, including Premarin's, over the past 20 years.

Slaughter in the name of Premarin is barbaric. We need your help to get the word out to stop this useless practice. Be the voice for these abused horses and foals.