Sunday, December 17, 2006

Premarin

LIFESAVERS WILD HORSE RESCUE

The Heartbreak of Premarin Farms

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 approximetley 450 farms in Canada and 50 farms in the U.S., located in North Dakota, Minnesota, and Indiana with approximately 60,000 mares.

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. This chronic lack of exercise can cause severe swelling of the legs, breakdown of the hoof structure and sets the stage for colic. They are harnessed to urine collection bags six months a year. The mares may be kept in pregnant for production for 8 to 9 years. At the end of their use, they are sent to slaughter.

60,000 grade foals, the by-products of this industry, have almost no chance to find homes as sport horses, working horses or pets. The majority will become casualties of slaughter. At two to five months old, the foals will be taken from their mothers and sent to auctions where they will ultimately end up in the slaughterhouse.

Each September, several rescue groups unite to purchase PMU foals from the auctions and from the pmu farms to save them from a horrible death. Lifesavers is working to raise funds to rescue another group of foals this year. The meat packers are paying more than ever for horsemeat due to the threat of Mad Cow Disease as well as Hoof and Mouth Disease infecting beef cattle, sheep and other livestock overseas. The prices have nearly doubled in one year, making it very difficult to raise enough money to rescue, house, vet care and transport the foals from Canada and the northern states.

The cost of saving each individual foal is more than $800. Many of the foals are draft breeds, although some of the PMU farms are now breeding their big mares with more popular breeds such as quarter horses and paints.

Lifesavers will help pay for the purchase, vet and transport of as many foals as possible this year. Once rescued and safely in the U.S., Lifesavers will have the foals delivered to our ranch and will find loving homes for these babies.

Our first two Premarin foal rescues are Dually and Diesel who will stay as Lifesavers ranch mascots to help educate visitors of the Heartbreak of Premarin Farms.

If you are a woman being prescribed "Premarin" which is manufactured by Wyeth-Ayerst as an estrogen replacement ask your doctor about synthetic alternatives such as:

Cenestin by Duramed, Climara by Berlex, Estrace by Mead/Johnson, Estratab by Solvay, Ogen by Upjohn, Ortho-Est by Ortho-Mcneil, Provera by Upjohn, Estinyl by Sherin, Estradrem by Ciba. All of these products are made from plant materials such as soy, yams and other vegetable sources.

The only way we can stop this atrocious treatment of mares and foals is to squelch the demand for the product. Please do not use any product made from Pregnant Mares Urine. The synthetic alternatives are safe, reliable and very effective. Most importantly there are no animals suffering from its production.

The above information was comprised from brochures printed and distributed by the ASPCA, United Animal Nations, and other various animal welfare websites and publications.

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