Premarin drug - killing foals? Is this true or just a silly myth?

arwenplusone

arwenplusone

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Ok, I'm not one for jumping on the health/welfare PETA threads but I have seen this a few times and wondered if true.

Premarin is a HRT drug used in the states (as I understand) Premarin being for pregnant mare urine?

Just read this....

'Premarin foals need your help. Over 40,000 healthy foals are killed per year needlessly, because (company x ) uses their mothers urine in a hormone replacement drug called premarin when a alternitive product is available; the foals are simply by-products.

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Its not just the states its used in europe too...at least in Ireland & the UK anyway. don't really know about the foals thing...can't imagine they would get away with it these days if that was the case
 
There has been a lot on here about this.It was always done in Canada, I think and could be corrected, now it is done in eastern europe.
I do not know a lot about it ,I always tell friends to ask for synthetic hormone replacement and don't go down that route unless really necessary but I am a bit ignorant about it and I am ashamed of that.
Will read post with interest
 
From Wikipedia:

Controversy

Premarin is the subject of some contention. Animal rights activists claim that animal husbandry and urine collection methods used in Premarin's production cause undue stress and suffering to the mares involved.[1] Additionally, it is proposed that there is an overabundance of poorly bred foals produced by Pregnant Mare Urine (PMU) farms each year. However, PMU horses only represent 0.01% of equines in North America [2]. There has been an increase in the number of registered horses on PMU ranches with almost all horses now being registered stock. [3] The vast majority of these purebred foals are sold for pleasure riding and driving.
 
It's basically true - although a LOT of Premarin farms have closed down over the last 10 years as better alternative (synthetic) drugs become available - and no doubt as users become aware of the real cost of this drug.

Some farms keep better quality mares and use decent quality stallions to produce 'value-added' foals that can be sold as potential riding horses - but many still go to slaughter at 2-3 months old when their mothers return to the 'collection' line.

The mares are actually a worse welfare problem than the foals - they spend 6-8 months of each year in small stalls attached to 'collection' devices - 24 hours a day.

But a humane alternative has been developed in Australia - a 'free range' collection method which is FAR superior on mare welfare grounds and which produces foals which WILL be saleable as quality yearlings. http://www.thorgard.com.au/default.htm

I would HOPE that the economics of the Australian method stack up against the 'battery farming' of the American/Canadian farms. If they do, then the American/Canadian farms might either have to change - or go under.
 
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