Date
September 26, 2006
Contact
Elliot Katz, DVM
415-388-9641, ext.225, IDA
Dr. Pat Haight
480-394-0578, IDA
Nicole Morris
250-483-3961, Island Equine Rescue
In Defense of Animals
3010 Kerner Blvd
San Rafael
CA 94901
IDA is an international, California-based animal advocacy organization dedicated to ending the abuse and exploitation of animals by defending their rights, welfare and habitats.
USA Based In Defense of Animals Distributes $30,000 to Assist More Than 100 Rescued Canadian Horses
Funds donated to IDA go to Canadian rescue groups who saved 111 horses including mares, foals & mares in foal
San Rafael, Calif.—Because of $30,000 in funds provided by a donor, who prefers to remain anonymous, to the IDA Conquistador Program, the horse rescue & advocacy program of the international animal protection charity, In Defense of Animals (IDA), the organization has been able to help rescue over 100 horses initially discovered by a horse dealer last Spring, starved and dehydrated on a lot in Alberta, Canada, where they had been trying to survive on scrub. The horse dealer purchased the horses but, after several months of being unable to place them, was becoming frustrated.
Notified by Canadian rescue organizations that some of the horses may end up at auction and at slaughter and that the horse dealer was having difficulty getting them even basic medical care because they were so wild, concerned animal rescue groups from all over North America hastily went to work. IDA’s Conquistador Program based in the IDA Southwest Region office in Tempe, Arizona was asked early in September to assist these groups in their effort to save the horses. The horses include mares and their foals, some mares in foal, and a few stallions including a lame stallion with a club foot who was among those rescued. The horses range in age from just months to four years old. All of the horses were saved.
Some of the horses were believed to have been used in the manufacture of the drug Premarin, an estrogen replacement drug used to treat menopause in women. The urine used to make Premarin is collected from pregnant horses who are confined in stalls and tethered by their necks so that they cannot even turn around for six to seven months at a time. During that period, these naturally active animals get little or no exercise. The mares' estrogen-rich urine is harvested with rubber pouches fitted over their urethras which can cause infections and severe leg chafing. They also make it difficult if not impossible for the horses to lie down or assume other comfortable positions. Instead, they must stand or kneel resting on their chests even while sleeping.
Mares in the Premarin industry give birth to approximately 40,000 foals every year. While farmers keep some females to replace their mothers in urine production and a few try to sell ponies for riding, most foals are sent to feedlots to be fattened for slaughter. Then the mares are bred again and returned to their stalls. Equine rescue groups save as many of these foals as they can, but can only rehabilitate, care for and adopt out a small number of those carelessly cast aside by the Premarin industry.
IDA has chosen two horse rescue groups in Canada to receive grants for taking in 111 horses and foals from Gibbons, Alberta. The donated funds are being used for essential medical costs for each of the rescued horses. IDA is extremely grateful for these donated funds. The donor's generosity has made an incredible difference in these horses' lives.
**** Pictures of the horses may be viewed by going to the web link below:****