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| The Premarin Story Throughout this website, we refer to "Premarin rescues." What is Premarin, and why are there so many foals and grown mares in need of rescue? The short story is that Premarin is a class of drugs made for humans from a hormone produced by pregnant horses. To facilitate the hormone's collection, the mares are subjected to what many consider to be inhumane practices. And every year, to each mare involved, one foal is born. This is perhaps the biggest tragedy of all, because upon their birth, most foals become inconsequential to the drug industry that made them. For thousands to tens of thousands unwanted babies, there is no future. Unless they are rescued and adopted, the unfortunate horses will be fattened before facing their ultimate end: slaughter for human consumption. Read on, or follow this link to meet the Premarin rescues of 2010. |
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Some of our Premarin faces...
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When we think of the hundreds of uses horses have had through the centuries, and work they continue to do today, we do not always think of the thousands of mares working right now for drug companies. The job is for mares to be pregnant and produce hormones that can be collected for use in certain drugs. The hormones are used for hormone replacement therapy drugs that in humans are believed to relieve symptoms of menopause and control osteoporosis. The Premarin® Family of drugs is a lucrative and ever-expanding category of drugs derived from conjugated equine estrogens (CEE) which are collected from pregnant mare urine. Although health risks have been associated with the drugs and plant-based alternatives are available, the horse-derived hormone collection remains a large industry, with the number of mares in a year ranging from the thousands to tens of thousands, based on drug demand. What is the job like for a Premarin mare? While a mare is in the production, or pee, line she stands in an enclosure so small that natural movement is not possible. She is fitted with a urine collection bag, and stands, sometimes full-time, for six months of each year. The mare is allowed to eat, but water intake is limited in order to concentrate the urine. In spring, the mare is released to pasture to give birth. She is allowed to spend the summer with her foal, but after the first frost of fall, she is separated from the foal. If the mare produces urine well and can be impregnated again, she will return to the pee line. Otherwise, she is either sent to slaughter for sale in Europe or Asia for human consumption, or if she is lucky, she may be purchased at auction to be rescued and adopted. And what happens to her foal? It may either be incorporated into the pee line itself, it may be fattened for slaughter, or, with luck, it may be adopted. At Ray of Light Farm, in cooperation with Equine Angels Rescue Sanctuary (EARS) of New Milford, CT, we try to make adoption a possibility for as many orphans as we can support. Each year, we take in as many of the unwanted premarin mares and foals as possible. Because there are thousands of pregnant mares involved in the drug production, there are thousands of foals born each year who are in need of homes. With your help, we can continue to do our part to help these wonderful animals find homes. |
To help our cause, you may donate through PayPal. Please click the button below. |
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