What happened to the anti-Premarin/PMU movement?

[gypsymare]

I haven’t thought about Premarin/PMU horses in close to a decade. I guess I thought it was on the decline since I hadn’t heard much about it. Between the Prempro studies showing increased risk of cancer, statements about closing farms, and the uproar over the welfare of the horses, I thought it was a sinking ship.

So color me surprised when I saw a commercial for Premarin cream during a commercial break for Project Runway on Lifetime.

I made a Facebook post about it and I was surprised how many people commented that didn’t know what Premarin was made from, or thought it was no longer being prescribed.

Ten years ago it was a hot topic. What happened? The farms still exist, Pfizer is expecting sales of $2 billion in product by 2015, the patents have run out and production has moved overseas. Is it time to bring it back to the spotlight so the next generation of women know what their options are and what the consequences of Premarin use entail?

[Coanteen]

Wait, Project Runway is on?

[gypsymare]

[QUOTE=Coanteen;7910357]
Wait, Project Runway is on?[/QUOTE]

:lol: All-Stars, mostly re-runs but I finally started DVR’ing it

[Alagirl]

I suppose the big panic subsided after the articles about HRT causing cancer came out.

Plus of course the company streamlined the production and canceled a lot of contracts, there aren’t many farms left either.

[BeeHoney]

Production is continuing along just fine. However, all the protesting and bad press around the PMU industry in the US and Canada caused the drug companies to move their contracts to farms in China (and some in India, I think). Out of sight, out of mind!

Those protesters sure did a great job, because I’m positive that the welfare of those PMU horses is a top priority in China and India compared to Canada.

[roseymare]

Ugh the thought pmu farms in those countries makes me ill. I can’t imagine welfare is much thought of. Hopefully I am wrong though.

[gypsymare]

Interesting video of PMU operations in China:

http://youtu.be/DL5o8c_Fetg

I found a count from 2010 that there were 64 farms in North America. NAERIC lists 26, but they appear to be a non-profit advocate of PMU production. Do all NA PMU farms have to register with them or is it voluntary to promote foal resale?

[Paks]

Yeah tied to a post is much better than a box stall. Good job HSUS. Almost as good as making sure American horses get slaughtered in Mexico,

[HorseKrazy]

My stepdaughter was prescribed Premarin, I was very surprised because I haven’t heard much about it in a very long time-like the op. I remember looking at hundreds of foals over the Internet about 12 years ago! I wonder how the mares will be treated now that they are so far away.

[Bluey]

[QUOTE=HorseKrazy;7910695]
My stepdaughter was prescribed Premarin, I was very surprised because I haven’t heard much about it in a very long time-like the op. I remember looking at hundreds of foals over the Internet about 12 years ago! I wonder how the mares will be treated now that they are so far away. :/[/QUOTE]

I have had different friends that had to go on HRT.

Most did fine with synthetic hormones, two those didn’t do anything for them, so their Drs put them on Premarin and for them, it was a life saver.

I think that, if some day they get their synthetic hormones refined enough to work as Premarin itself does, there won’t be any need of horses to provide that any more.

Until then, where there is a need, someone will try to provide for it.

[red_mares]

I know a guy/family who used to have a Premarin farm. He used registered Belgians and Haflinger mares and bred them to nice registered stallions. His colts were decidedly not rescues. When Premarin dropped his contract (years ago) he cut back his breeding operation considerably. He still breeds some nice Haflingers, but not nearly on the scale he used to.

[imaginique]

Isn’t there a documentary out now called “Born to Die” about PMU foals? Or am I halucinating? (I know it’s possible)

[kookicat]

[QUOTE=imaginique;7910842]
Isn’t there a documentary out now called “Born to Die” about PMU foals? Or am I halucinating? (I know it’s possible)[/QUOTE]

It’s about nurse mare foals. There’s a couple of wild threads on this forum about it.

[caffeinated]

[QUOTE=gypsymare;7910484]
Interesting video of PMU operations in China:

http://youtu.be/DL5o8c_Fetg

I found a count from 2010 that there were 64 farms in North America. NAERIC lists 26, but they appear to be a non-profit advocate of PMU production. Do all NA PMU farms have to register with them or is it voluntary to promote foal resale?[/QUOTE]

I think it’s voluntary, or at least it was. That said the standards for North American producers got tightened quite a bit due to all the attention from welfare groups, so producers are required to market their foals and such, so NAERIC is an appealing and easy way to do that.

It’s unfortunate if production has just gotten moved overseas, there were some good responsible farms that lost contracts, and I can’t imagine Chinese farms even come close.

[merrygoround]

[QUOTE=Paks;7910553]
Yeah tied to a post is much better than a box stall. Good job HSUS. Almost as good as making sure American horses get slaughtered in Mexico,[/QUOTE]

It’s the same old story.

Be careful what you wish for.

Unfortunately while they are clamoring against one thing, they never think of the alternatives.

[Synthesis]

Speaking of which, I have a big NAERIC mare I picked up in late summer that I’m currently training. She’s had a very late start. However, she has lovely build, nice movement and amazing mind. She’ll try her heart out all day, think things through if I give her time to mull it over and volunteers behavior once she’s figured it out. (Free jumped her with a guide pole maybe a dozen jumps, after that she didn’t need it)

She is going to turn out to be one hell of an ammy friendly dressage horse, if not a nice hunter/eq horse.

[LauraKY]

PFIZER CONSIGNS PMU HORSES TO KILLING FIELDS OF ASIA

Interesting article, as always, follow the money.

http://tuesdayshorse.wordpress.com/2012/03/31/pfizer-consigns-pmu-horses-to-killing-fields-of-asia/

[gypsymare]

If I had room, one of those NAERIC Belgian breeders had some gorgeous horses.

[Pennywell_Bay]

Also, when the farms were in the states, the company (then Wyeth) donated 3.5 million towards the transport of horses to non-slaughter auctions. Just a drop in the bucket but it was something.

[2foals]

I’ve heard about the industry moving to China as well. I think it is a real shame. Not only were the Canadian ranches highly regulated, I think there had been a successful effort to improve the quality of the stock that was being bred, both better stallions and better mares. I have purchased a few Canadian imports in the past couple of years and they are quite nice horses. We were out in Montana this summer riding at a ranch that had some good horses on their string–mostly from Canada.

IMO, the main humane issue with the industry is the question of what happens to the foals produced by the pregnant mares. If the foals are being sold at auction for slaughter as an unwanted byproduct, that’s a problem. That may have initially been an issue for the industry in Canada, but with the improvement in the quality of the horses and the increasing awareness of NA buyers of an inexpensive source of decent riding/trail/hunt prospects I was under the impression that this was less of a problem. There is a decent market in NA for sound, useable young prospects. I can’t imagine that there is any kind of future for the foals produced by PMU mares in China and India.

It’s sad that the people protesting the industry likely contributed to far worse conditions for horses. It’s also ironic that we’ve heard very few complaints about the PMU horses now that the industry has gone from highly regulated and inspected to completely unregulated–just in a faraway place.