Woman and Her Horse are Protesting at the Gates of WYETH PHARMACEUTICALS IN MADISON, NJ
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Added: 08/29/2006
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Woman and Her Horse are Protesting at the Gates of WYETH PHARMACEUTICALS IN MADISON, NJ
On Monday, August 21st, Heather Evans from the Live and Let Live Farm, an Equine Rescue facility in Chichester, NH, will arrive at the Wyeth Pharmaceuticals’ Headquarters in Madison, NJ, in an effort to raise awareness about the cruelty to horses in the production of Wyeth-Ayerst’s PREMARIN. PREMARIN is a Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), used to treat menopausal or post-hysterectomy women and it is made from PREgnant MARe urINe.
To produce Premarin, pregnant mares are hooked up to rubber urine-collection bags and tethered in stalls so small they cannot even turn around or lay down comfortably. They are forced to stay in this position for 6 months, while their bodies are producing the most estrogen. They are also deprived of sufficient water, in order to maintain the concentrated estrogen in the urine. Within days of giving birth in the spring, the mares are re-impregnated. Fertile mares may go through this process many times, over years in their lifetime.
The foals---all but a few kept for stud purposes or to replace worn-out mares, are sold at auction. From there, most go to feedlots to be fattened for slaughter. The mares too are slaughtered once they can no longer become pregnant or if they become too lame to stand in the small stalls.
Up until November of 2005, Live and Let Live Farm was one of many rescue havens that were pre-adopting these foals and mares in advance of them being sent to auction/slaughter. However, the pharmaceutical company Wyeth reneged on the last load of animals that were pre-adopted and have canceled the program. Now, all farmers must take their offspring to auction, where most are purchased for slaughter to provide meat, a delicacy in European countries, or lose their subsidy from the drug company.
Heather Evans has chosen to fight a brave fight on behalf of these innocent animals, and urge women to choose a synthetic estrogen alternative to Premarin. She has raised money to support her trip through generous donations and the support of the Live and Let Live Farm’s philanthropic network. Heather, along with her horse Tux, will travel to Wyeth’s campus in Madison, NJ to urge Wyeth to change their policy and allow equine rescue facilities to save the by-product of their drug production, the baby horses.
Heather hopes to return home with the peace of mind that Premarin mares and foals can be placed in loving homes and saved from sure death. If Wyeth should refuse to change their view, Heather will continue on to Texas or Illinois, where the auctions are held, most often attended by meat-buyers, and buy as many babies as possible with the money raised to support her ‘Saving the Innocents’ project. Donations have been coming in regularly through her website at www.savingtheinnocents.com and the non-profit equine rescue Live and Let Live Farm at www.liveandletlivefarm.org
Heather began her project on May 21st, 2006 with a walk from New Hampshire to Manitoba, Canada, where most of the Premarin ‘Pee’ farms are located. She had to end her journey in July due to a foot injury, but has chosen ‘Plan B’ as an alternative. Heather has been greeted by media coverage and the kindness of strangers since the beginning. The generosity has been astounding.
If you would like to meet Heather and Tux, you will find them beginning Monday, August 21st, 2006 at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, 5 Giralda Farms, Madison, NJ.
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