PMU industry, for those interested.

[seminolewind]

I hate ALL things that cause stress and pain to animals. If we are so civilized, surely we, as a country, can find more humane methods of how we treat animals. It's unfortunate that cruelty is acceptable in so many things that have to do with animals, and we have to rely on the goverment to make laws about humane treatment of animals.

 

[GloriaH]

I saw the conditions of the PMU mares and foals that came through a sale here and they were not good. They were not horrible either but they were not good. I object to the whole idea of PMU farms. I agree that we need them, but if the hormones were used only on the people who can not take the synthetic we could limit the amount of farms around and control what goes on at them better not to mention the amount of foals being bred.

 

[Wildsky]

Quote:
Your argument IS emotional

 

[helmstead]

I'm not making a for or against argument there - I'm stating the VALID need for the drug produced at PMU facilities and how no one (not even this once uneducated tree hugging horse lover) can say they will never use Premarin.

So, what's yours? The argument I was looking for here is how are horses different from cows, chickens, pigs...?

 

[Frozen Feathers]

Quote:
Well, when it comes to meat there is no difference. You do, however, have the option of buying beef, pork and chicken that come from local, small farms, rather then from a feed lot.

Wyeth-Ayerst can't guarantee that the urine they use to make their product comes from mares that are given the best treatment possible. One of the reasons, there are no federal or international regulations in the manner in which these mares are kept. There are only "codes" written by the drug company itself. Of course since Wyeth-Ayerst contracts to the majority of the farms do you think they are going to call out any farmer who produces their precious pee on mistreatment of the horses they may see while conducting an inspection??

 

[Varisha]

That is not true there are regulations on how these mares, thier foals and the stallions are cared for. There are constraints on how long they can be in the stall and how much daily exersize they are to get.

 

[Frozen Feathers]

Quote:
If you could find me a link that contains actual law and PMU regulations, I would like to read it.

 

[Varisha]

Quote:
If you could find me a link that contains actual law and PMU regulations, I would like to read it.

Working on it

But I may not find it tonight so I will keep looking Monday because I know I saw it on an officail site last year. The link was from a horse forum I go to and pointed at a govererment site.

 

[Varisha]

Here is one to check out

http://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/newsletters/v10n1/10n1luba.htm

Now I'm off ... see ya all monday (well maybe saturday depending on what happens)

 

[Frozen Feathers]

Thank you for the link, Varisha. See you Monday.... or Saturday, I'm sure I will be here.

Here's a a paragraph I find interesting.

"All ranches contract independently with Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories to provide the estrogens in PMU. Before receiving a contract, all ranching facilities are examined and approved by company inspectors. PMU ranchers are contractually obligated to adhere to the Recommended Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Horses in PMU Operations, a document that sets the standard for all ranch procedures. The Code was developed in 1990 to codify previously adopted ranching practices. Company inspec tors, agriculture/equine specialists, and veterinarians all refer to the Code's guidelines when inspecting or reviewing PMU ranches."

Unfortunately it looks like there isn't an independent contractor inspecting these farms. This is still stating that Wyeth-Ayerst inspects it's contracted farms. It's like relying on your kid tell you if their room is clean or not. Of course they are going to tell they picked up everything (even if means they stuffed everything in a closet) to stay on Mom's good side.

It does state that the ACA or SPCA can go in investigate if there is a complaint, but who's going to complain? The meat dealer or the farm owner??