PMU industry, for those interested.

[verthandi]

PMU farms always cause a lot of opinions. Some of the reports are very old and use outdate information. If you really want to see them first hand, drive to one if you are able.

In the 80's farmers were paid by concentate of hormone, mares were limited in their amount of water intake. That was quickly changed. Any mare was bred to any stallion, foals were most unregistered horses. Farmers quickly found out they could get better money for their foals by producing registered stock and the planning changed on many of these farms.

The first farm I saw, I didn't even know what a PMU farm was. I returned from Canada and was marveling at the acres of pasture that I saw with draft horses and foals enjoying them. Someone told me they must have been Urine Line Farms.

I returned the next year and just stopped to visit some of these farms. Mostly drafts were still used at this time. (early 80's) They spent their summers out to pasture with their foals. They came into the barns about Sept or Oct. They had large tie stalls with automatic waterer, and a soft hospital like rubber catch bag to collect urine. Hay was in front of them in feeders at all times.

Of the farms that I visited, I was told they went out daily while sections of the barn were cleaned. And about half of the herd was outside on the days that I visited. The horses seemed content and did not look stressed by their lifestyle.

I have return to that area about every five years and visit what farms still are in operation.

Little did I know that by the time I would be looking into hormone replacement treatments that Premarin would be the only drug that would stop me from a life of chronic fatigue, probably due to depression.

I am an owner of 5 horses that I adore, and wish no horse to live a harmful life.

 

[Rosalind]

You asked for the legal regs, here they are:

PMU horses are covered under APHIS and USDA regulations just like any other lab animal.

Since each lab animal-using organization (private company, university, gov't lab, whatever) has to interpret how they will adhere to the regulations on their own, they have their own internal documents (such as those previous posters mentioned) that explain how they personally interpret them. For example, the regs say that you have to keep records of each animal's feeding schedule. The regs do NOT say, write them on Form XYZ123, or enter them into a computer, or keep a notebook for each animal--they leave that up to whatever is most convenient for the organization.

It is Wyeth's responsibility to oversee their contractors and make sure they are adhering to the regs. I do know some of the folks whose job it is to do the overseeing. They do a pretty good job, and yes, they HAVE yanked contracts from contractors who can't perform to standards. As one of the PMU rescue sites points out, Wyeth has shut down most of its PMU operations (including a large processing plant in New York, Rouses Point) due to decreased market share.

Someone also asked, who is going to complain? Uh, try the USDA inspectors. They do surprise visits along with their regular inspections and invariably find something to complain about.

Once, years ago when I did research with rats, the USDA lady found one, just one, flake of pine shavings on the hallway floor--not a dirty piece of shavings, mind you, a clean one that must have fallen out when we were scooping it into the clean cages. I got read the riot act and they threatened to shut our experiment down. From then on, I had to clean not just the room my rats were in, but the hallway, the cage-washing room, the water filtration room, the gowning room...

 

[seminolewind]

Quote:
Some of the places that have pmu mares breed them to better studs so that the babies are more desirable, larger sport horses, spotted, etc. (I am not condoning the PMU industry)

 

[EggCentric]

For the comment about horsemeat in dog food. They don't use it in dog food anymore. That was banned in 1971.

There can be by- products from horses in dog food, but that comes from rendering plants, not the slaughterhouses. Animals taken to a rendering plant are already dead.

 

[CovenantCreek]

You're probably referring to a comment I made in another thread about horses and dog food. I can't say what did or didn't get passed into law in 1971, but I can say that a girl I used to know bought a horse off a Kal Kan truck in 1986. The owner had already contracted with the company for them to pick up the horse and pay him $250 for the meat and this girl convinced him to let her have the horse for the same price. I suppose there's a chance Kal Kan wasn't planning to slaughter the horse for use in pet food, I can't say for sure on that.

 

[silkiechicken]

I won't get too much into the lab use of animals, but I can say that from what I have seen, they live better lives than most animals out there. You have to have a protocol that gets reviewed again and again... cages are cleaned daily, and to even sacrifice a fish, at fry stage, it requires a set of protocols you have to follow. Even the mice are kept at a steady 70 deg for their whole lives with filtered air in and out of their rooms.

As with everything, good and bad, I say take a critical eye to the picture and analyze propaganda for what it is worth and don't make quick judgments about an industry as a whole. There are often many sides with the one that will bring the most sensation/attention emphasized at the forefront.

 

[helmstead]

*from what I understand* a large demand for horsemeat in the US is at zoos to feed big cats and other carnivores. Anyone else heard this?

I can't say I've ever heard of horse meat in US produced dog food, but then again, the term 'meat by-products' is a very loose one. I would be quicker to believe that meat came from rendering plants. (makes me wish I had room to bury all the horses I've had to put down)