Tell Pfizer to stop PMU production

Pfizer Canada has announced it will increase the amount of pregnant mare urine (PMU) it collects from its facilities in the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan in 2016 and 2017.

Pfizer uses PMU to manufacture the hormone replacement therapy drug Premarin, used to treat symptoms of menopause and prevent osteoporosis in post-menopausal women.

According to the Manitoba Co-operator, this is thought to be the first time Pfizer has increased the volume of PMU since it bought the previous Premarin manufacturer, Wyeth Inc., in 2009.

Demand for Premarin declined in recent years following a 2002 Women’s Health Initiative study that found using Prempro (a combination of Premarin and progestin) was linked to an increased risk of breast cancer. Animal welfare concerns dealt another blow to the PMU industry as the public learned that as part of the collection protocol mares were confined to stalls and continuously impregnated. For most of their 11-month pregnancies, these horses are confined to stalls so small that they cannot turn around or take more than one step in any direction.

The animals must wear rubber urine-collection bags at all times, which causes chafing and lesions. Once the foals are born, the horses are re-impregnated; this cycle continues for about 12 years.

The fate of the thousands of foals born on PMU farms each year is equally disturbing. Some are used to replace their exhausted mothers. Some are offered for adoption (although Big Pharma funded farms are not permitted to work directly with rescue organizations), but the remaining foals — along with worn-out mares — are sold at auction by farmers to make extra money, where most are purchased by middlemen working for slaughterhouses.