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Former boxer turned musician, Paul Thorn, rocked the Kirby Center

Our Opinion: Planet gets its say on Earth Day

The Pregnant Mares&#8217; Urine (PMU) industry has been secretly escalating. Beginning in 1942, thousands of doctors were prescribing Premarin, a drug made from PMU, as an estrogen replacement (ERT) for menopausal women.However, in 2002, the National Institutes for Health-sponsored Women&#8217;s Health Initiative found that women who took PMU drugs Premarin and Prempro were at a greater risk for a host of seriouis diseases including strokes, heart attacks, blood clots, dementia, and breast cancer. PMU production was then gradually transferred to China.In 2009, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer merged with Premarin manufacturer Wyeth, taking over the transfer of PMU production overseas. The FDA approved Duavee, a new menopausal drug by Pfizer which contains Premarin. And now over 90,000 mares are already confined in barbaric conditions in China. When Equine Advocates heard about PMU farms in Canada going out of business, they jumped into action, and rescued the remaining mares they were going to sell at a slaughter auction. Most of them were pregnant.PMU drugs are being marketed to women in poorer countries who may not be aware of the deadly side effects. Most Americans don&#8217;t know about the PMU farms operating in China. The task is now to expose the truth, dangers and cruelty in PMU production. Only a small number of PMU factory farms remain open in Canada, and they are expected to close. Reportedly, one of the main reasons for transferring PMU production to China was to hide images of the horrific lives and slaughter of PMU mares and foals from the American public.One of the major goals at Equine Advocates is to bring this outdated and barbaric industry to an end. Educating the public about the safer and equally-effective ERT/HRT alternatives is a major part of their focus in 2015. PMU factory farms are abhorrent. PMU drugs are completely unnecessary. And the treatment of PMU mares and their offspring is sickening. This torture and greed needs to stop.For further information and how you can help in this humane mission go to www.equineadvocates.orgPatricia MarksWilkes-Barre

Hormone tradehurts horses