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Animal Welfare Information General
- 1. Animal Contraception
- 2. Volunteer Vacations
- 3. Help for Problem Shelters
- 4. Premarin Exposed - brochure
- 5. Alternatives to Premarin
- 6. The ASPCA Speaks Out Against Bonsai Kitten
- 7. Animal Use in the Lab
- 8. "Out of the shadows, into the sun (Lab chimpanzees)"
- 9. The Truth About Snow Dogs
Premarin Exposed - brochure
ASPCA
You can help put an end to the cruel treatment of mares and the slaughter of their foals that result from the manufacture of Premarin.
The truth behind one of todays most widely prescribed drugs will shock you. Get the facts and get involved.
Premarin, a drug whose name originates from its key ingredient, pregnant mares urine (PMU), is prescribed to alleviate symptoms of menopause and to prevent osteoporosis in post-menopausal women. It is derived from the high concentration of estrogen in mares urine, which is collected from pregnant mares confined to barns on Canadian and some American farms. Despite the ready availability of more humane choices (from lifestyle changes to photoestrogens and synthetic derivatives), Premarin, a product of pharmaceutical giant Wyeth-Ayerst, continues to be among the most widely prescribed drugs in America, bringing in an estimated $850 million in annual sales.
Many experts feel it is long overdue that women, doctors and the general public be made aware of the pain inflicted on the horses involved in the production of Premarin. The ASPCA is taking steps to help Premarin foals and all horses who face an inhumane existence or needless death. Together, we can change the way menopause is viewed in this society and reveal the connection between the aggressive marketing and immense corporate power of Wyeth-Ayerst and so many sentient animals who deserve a better life.
| ...That a substance derived from horse urine is natural to the human body is simply a tribute to 50 years of successful advertising. Phillip Warner, Gynecologist; Los Gatos, CA |
| I am no longer willing to swallow Wyeth-Ayersts bitter pill. Brigitte Bardot, President, Fondation Brigitte Bardot |
| The horse is one of natures most beautiful animals, yet sadly tens of thousands suffer and die each year in the Premarin industry. Mary Tyler Moore, Actress |
| The abuse of horses in the production of Premarin is a total denial of our own history and our debt to the horse and the role this animal played in the exploration, conquest and utilization of our planet. What we are doing is unthinkable and unforgiveable. Roger Caras, ASPCA President |
Suffering of Mares
The mares used in Premarin production are subject to skin abrasions, leg swelling, crippling stress and often an early death because of the conditions in which they are kept:
- harnessed to urine collection bags six months a year
- chained in narrow, restrictive stalls that do not permit mares to turn around or lie down comfortably
- deprived of exercise
- restricted water consumption
- standing on cold concrete floors in their own feces
The mares are kept in production (pregnant) for about 8 to 9 years, if they dont burn out before that time. At the end of their use, they are sent to slaughter. Under normal circumstances, a mare would live 20 to 30 years.
Death Sentence for Foals
As if the treatment of mares is not bad enough, the foals born as a by-product of this industry, more than 50,000 a year, routinely are sent to auction. The majority of them end up in the slaughterhouse to provide meat for markets in Japan and Europe.
Ipswich Equine Rescue, based in Ipswich, MA, and headed by Kathleen Hofferty, and United Pegasus Foundation (UPF) in Arcadia, CA continue to seek out loving homes for rescued foals. For example, several of the foals saved by UPF in 1997 were helped through donations from The ASPCA; these foals were placed at Green Chimneys Farms, a farm in Brewster, NY, that helps rehabilitate at-risk children with a riding program as one of its therapies.
| When I first began my practice in a retirement community some 24 years ago, Premarin... was the only estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) that I knew enough about to prescribe. . . . Twenty years later came the horror stories about the PMU industry. Numerous newspaper stories, and my own investigations, confirmed the brutal truth: Pregnant mares were confined in cramped tie stalls, with urine collection cups fastened to them six months at a time, year after year, with most of their foals born each spring fattened up and trucked to slaughter at an average age of only six months old. Ethically, I felt that patients should be told about the industry. Once informed, they responded with overwhelming repulsion toward Premarin. I have not needed to prescribe that drug since, but have started or switched hundreds of women onto plant-based estrogens. Not one patient has insisted on returning to Premarin, which I think speaks well for the effectiveness of the other drugs. Ray Kellosalmi, B.S., M.D., L.M.C.C.; practicing family physician and surgeon in Peachland, British Columbia, Canada |
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Helen Meredith, president of United Pegasus Foundation (UPF), a California equine organization . . . headed to the auctions in Manitoba . . . What she found there was absolutely devastating. Groups of 500 to 600 panic-stricken foals, many 3 months of age or younger, were being roughly run through auctions and loaded into cattle carriers for the trip to meat packers feedlots. . . . Some were weaned right in the auction ring as their mothers were also being sold for slaughter, and the sight of the panicked mares and foals forcibly separated was heart-breaking. . . . The escape of foals from Canada is made possible by efforts of people to publicize their plight, locate community members to provide homes, and create an international shipping network to safely move them. . . . Any group or individual wishing to sponsor a foal rescue may send funds to UPF for this purpose and a foal will be purchased on their behalf. Later, the animal will be offered for adoption to a suitable home. |
Medical Alternatives
It seems time for our society to view meno-pause as the natural life process that it is rather than as a disease. Many health experts suggest lifestyle changes, such as exercise and diet, during this normal phase of a womans life as the best option to promote well-being. Due to controversies about the health risks involved in estrogen replacement therapy (ERT), women should consult with their physician about all the treatments available in order to make a safe, informed and personal choice. A number of doctors agree that there are FDA-approved plant-based and synthetic medications that work just as well as Premarin. And, animals will be spared the suffering from the production of Premarin.
Dr. Kellosalmi sums up the ugly truth, Unfortunately, for physicians it is easy and comfortable to prescribe drugs that have been around for a long time. It is also easy to not think about our contribution to the cruel chain of events that our prescriptions may allow, and thus the PMU industry is supported by our ho-hum acquiescence. But the doomsday clock is again well on its way for tens of thousands of innocent lives lives that, once again, will end in terror needlessly. With a few strokes of the prescribing pen, we are able to decide the fate of future innocents.
| After learning how Premarin is produced, I stopped prescribing [it] . . . for menopause-related symp-toms. In my experience, plant-derived synthetic ERT drugs are preferable to Premarin, and they do not contain the hidden ingredient of cruelty. Stephen Rosenman, M.D., F.A.C.O.G. |
Foal Rescue and Adoption
To support the work of The ASPCAs Lucky Fund for Premarin foals (and other equine issues):
ASPCA Lucky Fund
424 East 92nd Street
New York, NY 10128-6804
(212) 876-7700, ext. 4502
To sponsor the rescue of a foal or to adopt:
United Pegasus Foundation
120 S. First Avenue
Arcadia, CA 91006
(626) 279-1306 or (805) 823-0307
Ipswich Equine Rescue
15 Ward Street
Ipswich, MA 01938
(978) 356-1993
For information on Canadian foal rescue:
The Responsible Animal Care Society
3424 McKeller Drive
Westbank, B.C., Canada
What you can do
- Share this brochure with doctors and friends
- For a chart of all estrogen replacement drugs and other options, send a self-addressed, stamped business envelope to: Estrogen Alternatives, HSUS, 2100 L Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037
- For a suggested reading list or to send questions to Dr. Ray Kellosalmi, write to: ASPCA Publications, 424 E. 92 St., New York, NY 10128-6804
- To respectfully voice your protest, contact Robert Essner, President, Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories, P.O. Box 8299, Philadelphia, PA 19101; (610) 971-5400; (800) 999-9384
Courtesy of
ASPCA
424 East 92nd St.
New York, NY 10128-6804
(212) 876-7700
www.aspca.org
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