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The Horse |
Health Features - Premarin |
            
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What is Premarin?
Premarin is an organic
hormone replacement pill manufactured from the oestrogen extracted from
the urine of pregnant mares. In order to collect this urine the mares
are tethered in stalls (front and back) for the period of their
pregnancy, this is generally for 6mths of their pregnancy but can be up
to 11mths of the year in the less scrupulous farms.
There is a voluntary
code for exercise, "as required'. This may or may not be adhered to, and
of course it is up to the PMU farmer to decide what 'as required' means,
at best it may mean a few hours offline every 3 or 4 days. These stalls
are often just 8 feet long, by 3 1/2 feet wide and some are just 5 feet
high! If the tethers are too short the mare may be unable to lie
down.
In the past, it was commonly
reported that water was restricted in order to increase the
concentration of oestrogens by volume of urine and thereby reduce
shipping costs. The pharmaceutical company now claims that the water
restriction policy has been modified
Mares unable to
conceive quickly, are slaughtered, as are most of the foals. The figures
on foal slaughter are often concealed by the numbers which are sold
through premarin sales. In truth these foals are mainly purchased
by slaughter houses. The normal life of a healthy horse is 20 to
30 years, but most of the Premarin mares will become worn out
after 7 or 8 years, filly foals not slaughtered may be brought 'on-line'
at just 18mths. The latest figures gathered by Horse-Aid
showed approx. 439 PMU (Pregnant Mares Urine) farms in existence in
Canada and the U.S. That means that the total number of
mares, replacement mares, stallions, and PMU foals adversely impacted by
PMU production is estimated by HorseAid to be at well over 100,000 per
year.
Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories are the only pharmaceutical company which manufactures this product (of American Home Products' 1998 net sales of 13.5 billion dollars world-wide, sales of Wyeth's Premarin based drugs, including Prempro, Premphase, and Prempac, accounted for 1.6 billion dollars).
Ayerogen; Ayerogen Crema Vaginal; Azumon; C.E.S.; Climarest; Conjugated
Estrogens; Conjugen; Dagynil; Emopremarin; Equin; Femavit; Hyphorin;
Mannest; Menopak-E; Menpoz; Neo-Menovar; Oestro-Feminal; Ovest;
Premaril; Premarin; Premarin Crema V; Premarin Creme; Premarin Vaginal
Creme; Premarina; Premarose; Presomen; Prevagin-Premaril; Romeda; Sefac;
Srogen; Sukingpo; Transannon, Prempro, Premphase, and Prempac
Premarin has been in
production since 1942, however there is no better time to campaign to
have this product banned.
Synthetic alternatives
are a relatively recent development
HRT\Premarin has shown up in many studies recently as a
women's health risk
The use of HRT
is rising dramatically as 'baby boomers' mature and demand HRT making
Premarin the top perscribed drug in the United States.
TOP 200 LIST
There is a considerable body of opinion currently that
the PMU industry has cleaned up its act in the last few years.
There is no evidence to support this and although many 'tours' are
sited, these are often strictly controlled with the visitors being
directed to specific 'show' farms.
Important Update !!!
Sales of Premarin have been dropping
dramatically due to the increased publicity about the health risks of
HRT. This is good news in the long term for horse welfare but in
the short term may mean that Wyeth may order the slaughter of thousands
of mares in an attempt to 'down-size' their production by 1/3.
The Arguments for keeping Premarin
farms
Many advocates will try to tell you the benefits of HRT,
that women will 'die' or be in considerable difficulties without
HRT,what a terrible thing Osteoporosis is, or that all of the horses
will be killed if the Premarin industry is suddenly closed down.
All of these arguments are factually and logically flawed, so lets take
a look at them.
YES!
There are synthetic, FDA-approved alternatives; Ogen, Estrace,
Estradiol Transdermal System, Estradiol tablets, Estropipate, Estrone,
and Meneste, and Cenestin, to name a few. Premarin and its
derivatives are over 50 years old. Many older drugs carry more
risks and have more side-effects than newer versions -
see womens health issues
Recent trials of soy
products for hormone replacement have also shown good results, so
there is little excuse to continue this cruel treatment of tens of
thousands of mares and the slaughter of their foals.
More importantly there are considerable doubts and
concerns being raised about Hormone Replacement Therapies in general
and Premarin in particular that you should make yourself aware of
before being duped by the marketing hype surrounding menopause and
HRT.
Although all PMU
farms are in Canada or North America there are still things you can do
to help stop this abuse of horses.
If you (or
someone you know) are currently using HRT ask your doctor
NOT to prescribe Premarin, ask
for a synthetic alternative. ALL Premarin is currently organic,
and ALL organic Premarin is derived from oestrogens extracted from
Pregnant Mares' Urine.
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PETA Guide to effective letter writing
WRITE
to the government agencies listed below protesting the import and
funding of Premarin and demanding that information regarding the
manufacture of pharmaceuticals be freely available to all end users,
so that they can make informed decisions about their role in animal
abuse. Pharmac (approves/funds prescription drugs in New Zealand) Freepost 4072, Box 10-254, Wellington, NEW ZEALAND (no stamp required within New Zealand) Minister of Health & Racing: Annette King c:\- Parliament or email: aking@ministers.govt.nz Ministry of Health: P.O. Box 5013, Wellington, New Zealand. Email: EmailMOH@moh.govt.nz
Write
to the manufacturers and their subsidiaries, protesting the
manufacture of Pre
 marin
and advising them of your boycott of their products.Fort Dodge N.Z. Limited, Private Bag 92903, Onehunga. Auckland Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories, PO Box 8299, Philadelphia, PA 19101 The Canadian Ambassador (most PMU farms are in Canada)
Write
to those people
who advertise products associated with any of the Wyeth-Ayerst Labs
and its subsidiaries and ask if they are aware of the Premarin
issue.
Let all your friends know about Premarin and encourage them to do the same!
If you wish to see whether
this drug is sold in your Country
RXLIST
Pro-Premarin Farming Information
NAERIC
- The North American Equine Ranching Information Council - this is the
official industry site for the PMU farmers, so there are lots of lovely
soft focus photos of blonde women and horses but even it confirms the
size of the stalls the horses are kept in.
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STOP!
buying the following products from American Home Products
or their Animal Health Products subsidiary
Fort Dodge (there are plenty of
alternatives for each)