What is a PMU Mare?
For decades, Premarin was the most popular drug in the United States, with an estimated 22 million women taking the drug to treat menopausal symptoms in 2002. Because Premarin is made with estrogens extracted from pregnant mares’ urine (PMU), thousands of mares are used to produce this bitter pill, contributing to the unnecessary overbreeding of horses. From October to March, the pregnant mares live in the “pee barns,” forced to stand in stalls with urine collection devices strapped to them. The stalls are deliberately narrow to prevent pregnant mares from turning around and detaching the collection cups. In April, the mares are let out to pasture to have their foals and re-bred. A few fillies are kept as replacements and the rest of the foals, sometimes as young as two months, are rounded up and sold to meat buyers. The manufacturers of PMU drugs would like us to believe that every single foal born as a result of these pregnancies is sold to be used for companionship, recreation, ranc
