100 PMU foals have deadline of Novemer 30th before they are headed to slaughter

[Animals4Life]

This week the Animali Farm received phone calls from three of the PMU ranchers that they are working with, telling them that they cannot wait much longer to get their foals placed. Winter has come early in Alberta this year, and there is not enough grass to leave the mares and foals on pasture.

They have decided to wean their foals at the end of this month. Shortly after that the foals that have not been adopted, from these three ranches, will go to an auction. Some will go to a local horse sale, others may be taken to a more specific breed auction (such as the Quarterhorses).

The Animali Farm will do all that it can to place the foals through the end of this month. If you are able to adopt, please email or call us. Please keep in mind that there is only one full time person in the office, if we don't get right back with you try again.

There are over 100 foals needing homes by the end of the month. Below is a brief list of the foals with a deadline. A few mares are in the same situation.

APPALOOSAS: There are about 50 appaloosa foals still needing homes. Quite a few of them are colored appaloosas, and they can be registered. This ranch is going out of the horse breeding business this year. They are also selling their mares and stallions, but they can give them a little bit more time. The foals have to go at the end of the month.

QUARTERHORSES: There are still 25 registered Quarterhorse foals needing homes. Their pedigrees include such sires as Doc Bar, Old Sorrel, Bueno Chex, Poco Bueno, King and Leo. In addition to that there are some really nice colors (Buckskin, Roan, Palomino).

DRAFT CROSSES: There are still 7 of Kings babies needing homes, all but one of them are pinto! These babies are ¾ Draft ¼ Paint and will mature 16+ hands. King is the sire of some of our most popular horses over the past few years. This may be the last year that you can get one of his foals. There are also three Blue Roan Quarterhorse/Light Draft crosses still needing homes. These foals should mature 15.2-16 hands and be wonderful riding horses. There is even one Canadian/Lt. Draft cross foal (Jewell's baby) still needing a home.

FJORD CROSSES: There are 6 fjord crosses left. These are some of our favorite horses, in fact we hope to start driving Cheryl's Fjord (Tennessee Ernie Fjord) as soon as this rush is over. These cute horses mature to about 14.2 hands, and are stout. They have the sweetest, calmest personalities and are often used in therapeutic riding programs. They are born wearing a fawn coat, and shed out to look just like their mothers.

There are also two draft cross mares that need homes right away. They are not in foal, and the rancher will not be keeping them over the winter. One is Nutmeg, a red roan Belgian cross. We have tried to find her a home for two years, and are worried that she may not get one. The other is Jip a grulla Fjord/Percheron cross. Jip is about 14.2 hands and lovely.

To see all of the horses that need homes immediately go to our website, www.theanimalifarm.com and click on the button at the top which says, “Horses with November 30, 2006 Deadline". This will take you to a section of our site where you can look at just those horses. If you are a frequent visitor to our site remember to refresh your browser to get the latest version of the site. We are posting new information daily.

Please feel free to forward this email to your horse friends. The only way these babies will get adopted is if enough people know about them.

If you are able to adopt, please call us at 805-938-0174. Please remember we are in California, and call during business hours. Please leave a message if we do not answer. The machine picks up if we are on the phone with another adopter. We will call you back.

Your donations are also appreciated. We use donations to reduce the fees on horses that are running out of time. At a time like this you can really make a difference, even if you cannot adopt a horse. No amount is too small, this email is going to thousands of people and if everyone just gave a little we could make a huge difference.

Thank you very much.

Jennifer Johns
Cheryl Forbes
Directors
The Animali Farm
3401 Tepusquet Rd.
Santa Maria, CA 93454
805-938-0174
www.theanimalifarm.com
Animali@aol.com

THE ANIMALI FARM IS A 501(c)3, nonprofit organization. We focus on placing horses no longer needed by the PMU (Pregnant Mare Urine) industry. The industry has dramatically reduced production since women have reduced their use of Premarin. The Animali Farm has found homes for nearly 1000 “Premarin” horses in the past 4 years. We have done this by helping a handful of PMU ranchers in one small town in Alberta find homes for their horses after they lost their PMU contracts. We are not a large organization, just two women and a small group of volunteers. It has been a long haul, and there is more to do.
We count on your support to keep us going!

 

[GallopNTec]

Just posted picture of the one I adopted!!!

 

[Animals4Life]

Just posted picture of the one I adopted!!!

That is so awesome!!!

 

[HorseLady]

Okay, I'm going to play devils advocate here (here comes the red Karma - OOOhhhh nnnnnooooo!!!). They are asking $1000 to $1850 for these rescued foals.... Folks around here have babies they can't sell for $500! Nice registered babies too! Lets multiply 1200 by 100 - thats $120,000. Not a bad payday for a rancher who already is making money off the mama's urine with his PMU contract. You can load alot of weanlings in a two or three trailers, and ship them to a central location, pay $20 per head for a coggins and still be seeing a good profit. I understand the rescue doesn't want to see these babies going to a sale but neither does the rancher. At the sale he'd be getting $150 to $200 per head. Kudos to those who step up and help in this situation but I wonder what the rescue would respond to these questions. Just my thoughts....

 

[persimmoncf]

Okay, I'm going to play devils advocate here (here comes the red Karma - OOOhhhh nnnnnooooo!!!). They are asking $1000 to $1850 for these rescued foals.... Folks around here have babies they can't sell for $500! Nice registered babies too! Lets multiply 1200 by 100 - thats $120,000. Not a bad payday for a rancher who already is making money off the mama's urine with his PMU contract. You can load alot of weanlings in a two or three trailers, and ship them to a central location, pay $20 per head for a coggins and still be seeing a good profit. I understand the rescue doesn't want to see these babies going to a sale but neither does the rancher. At the sale he'd be getting $150 to $200 per head. Kudos to those who step up and help in this situation but I wonder what the rescue would respond to these questions. Just my thoughts....

my thoughts exactly HL...If these babies are being sold for that kind of money they will not go to the meat guy. I feel that this email that has been mass-sent is a ploy to pull on our hearts and purses. If this organization were truly going to SAVE these guys the fee would be little to nothing.

By the way Gallop...that is a georgous baby!!! You have fun with her.

 

[fredsaid2]

Here's an interesting blog that looks to address the foals needing homes before Nov 30th PMU blog . The person, who is involved in rescues, believes the foals are from ranchers who used to do PMU. The industry, she says, was shut down 2 years ago in Canada, yet some ranchers continue to produce large crops of foals. It would seem they hope to play on your sympathies to make the sales. I'm glad some are finding homes but if the blogger has the facts it makes the ranchers nothing more than horse puppy mills. Like other animals we need to support the quality breeder, not the mass producer.

 

[Dreamer]

Okay, I'm going to play devils advocate here (here comes the red Karma - OOOhhhh nnnnnooooo!!!). They are asking $1000 to $1850 for these rescued foals.... Folks around here have babies they can't sell for $500! Nice registered babies too! Lets multiply 1200 by 100 - thats $120,000. Not a bad payday for a rancher who already is making money off the mama's urine with his PMU contract. You can load alot of weanlings in a two or three trailers, and ship them to a central location, pay $20 per head for a coggins and still be seeing a good profit. I understand the rescue doesn't want to see these babies going to a sale but neither does the rancher. At the sale he'd be getting $150 to $200 per head. Kudos to those who step up and help in this situation but I wonder what the rescue would respond to these questions. Just my thoughts....

Well said. Definitely made me stop and think.

 

[Katie]

I am going to sound very dumb here...

What is PMU? And why are they getting paid for the mare's urine?

 

[fredsaid2]

I am going to sound very dumb here...

What is PMU? And why are they getting paid for the mare's urine?

From the Spring Hill Horse Rescue webpage...

Premarin or PMU (PREgnant MARe urINe) foals are by-products of the Hormone Replacement Therapy drug Premarin® that is prescribed to women in menopause or who have had hysterectomies. This drug is made from the urine of approximately 60,000 pregnant mares (female horses) and their foals are usually shipped to slaughterhouses for their meat, which is marketed overseas to European and Asian countries for human consumption. When the mares can no longer conceive they too are generally shipped for slaughter and replaced on the "pee lines". These horses and foals vary in breed, the majorities are; Paints, Appaloosas, Quarter Horses, Thoroughbreds, Drafts, and crosses of each.

 

[Katie]

Oh that is sad.

 

[SouthernMdRocks]

Here's an interesting blog that looks to address the foals needing homes before Nov 30th PMU blog . The person, who is involved in rescues, believes the foals are from ranchers who used to do PMU. The industry, she says, was shut down 2 years ago in Canada, yet some ranchers continue to produce large crops of foals. It would seem they hope to play on your sympathies to make the sales. I'm glad some are finding homes but if the blogger has the facts it makes the ranchers nothing more than horse puppy mills. Like other animals we need to support the quality breeder, not the mass producer.

Thanks for the information. Makes you really think about the situation in a different light, they make alot of sense but it's still hard to decide which way to go with it. The asking price is very high for these foals and I wonder if the money goes to the rancher or to the rescue. I think around Md the average rescue price for a foal is under 1K. Transport costs of course add to the price but not that much.

 

[SouthernMdRocks]

This week the Animali Farm received phone calls from three of the PMU ranchers that they are working with, telling them that they cannot wait much longer to get their foals placed. Winter has come early in Alberta this year, and there is not enough grass to leave the mares and foals on pasture.

They have decided to wean their foals at the end of this month. Shortly after that the foals that have not been adopted, from these three ranches, will go to an auction. Some will go to a local horse sale, others may be taken to a more specific breed auction (such as the Quarterhorses).

The Animali Farm will do all that it can to place the foals through the end of this month. If you are able to adopt, please email or call us. Please keep in mind that there is only one full time person in the office, if we don't get right back with you try again.

There are over 100 foals needing homes by the end of the month. Below is a brief list of the foals with a deadline. A few mares are in the same situation.

APPALOOSAS: There are about 50 appaloosa foals still needing homes. Quite a few of them are colored appaloosas, and they can be registered. This ranch is going out of the horse breeding business this year. They are also selling their mares and stallions, but they can give them a little bit more time. The foals have to go at the end of the month.

QUARTERHORSES: There are still 25 registered Quarterhorse foals needing homes. Their pedigrees include such sires as Doc Bar, Old Sorrel, Bueno Chex, Poco Bueno, King and Leo. In addition to that there are some really nice colors (Buckskin, Roan, Palomino).

DRAFT CROSSES: There are still 7 of Kings babies needing homes, all but one of them are pinto! These babies are ¾ Draft ¼ Paint and will mature 16+ hands. King is the sire of some of our most popular horses over the past few years. This may be the last year that you can get one of his foals. There are also three Blue Roan Quarterhorse/Light Draft crosses still needing homes. These foals should mature 15.2-16 hands and be wonderful riding horses. There is even one Canadian/Lt. Draft cross foal (Jewell's baby) still needing a home.

FJORD CROSSES: There are 6 fjord crosses left. These are some of our favorite horses, in fact we hope to start driving Cheryl's Fjord (Tennessee Ernie Fjord) as soon as this rush is over. These cute horses mature to about 14.2 hands, and are stout. They have the sweetest, calmest personalities and are often used in therapeutic riding programs. They are born wearing a fawn coat, and shed out to look just like their mothers.

There are also two draft cross mares that need homes right away. They are not in foal, and the rancher will not be keeping them over the winter. One is Nutmeg, a red roan Belgian cross. We have tried to find her a home for two years, and are worried that she may not get one. The other is Jip a grulla Fjord/Percheron cross. Jip is about 14.2 hands and lovely.

To see all of the horses that need homes immediately go to our website, www.theanimalifarm.com and click on the button at the top which says, “Horses with November 30, 2006 Deadline". This will take you to a section of our site where you can look at just those horses. If you are a frequent visitor to our site remember to refresh your browser to get the latest version of the site. We are posting new information daily.

Please feel free to forward this email to your horse friends. The only way these babies will get adopted is if enough people know about them.

If you are able to adopt, please call us at 805-938-0174. Please remember we are in California, and call during business hours. Please leave a message if we do not answer. The machine picks up if we are on the phone with another adopter. We will call you back.

Your donations are also appreciated. We use donations to reduce the fees on horses that are running out of time. At a time like this you can really make a difference, even if you cannot adopt a horse. No amount is too small, this email is going to thousands of people and if everyone just gave a little we could make a huge difference.

Thank you very much.

Jennifer Johns
Cheryl Forbes
Directors
The Animali Farm
3401 Tepusquet Rd.
Santa Maria, CA 93454
805-938-0174
www.theanimalifarm.com
Animali@aol.com

THE ANIMALI FARM IS A 501(c)3, nonprofit organization. We focus on placing horses no longer needed by the PMU (Pregnant Mare Urine) industry. The industry has dramatically reduced production since women have reduced their use of Premarin. The Animali Farm has found homes for nearly 1000 “Premarin” horses in the past 4 years. We have done this by helping a handful of PMU ranchers in one small town in Alberta find homes for their horses after they lost their PMU contracts. We are not a large organization, just two women and a small group of volunteers. It has been a long haul, and there is more to do.
We count on your support to keep us going!

A4L, The prices for these foals are a little up there compared to the local rescues. Who does the adoption fee go to, the rescue or the breeders? Is it true that this breeder has not been breeding for PMU in the past 2 years or so? Regardless I still believe in finding these wonderful foals homes and it's great to have these babies watched out for by organizations like your's but when does this so called breeder stop breeding and pawning them off as PMU rescues?

 

[GallopNTec]

Thanks for the information. Makes you really think about the situation in a different light, they make alot of sense but it's still hard to decide which way to go with it. The asking price is very high for these foals and I wonder if the money goes to the rancher or to the rescue. I think around Md the average rescue price for a foal is under 1K. Transport costs of course add to the price but not that much.

The money for the one I got went to The Animali farm , they are a non profit
501 c horse rescue I paid 1450 which will get her from Canada to either KY or VA.
The rescue has more than just foals too, and one thing the lady said about these horses was " think BLM mustang with papers"- they are all wild, so chances are this is their last hope.

It is a double edged sword, this whole situation.

 

[SouthernMdRocks]

The money for the one I got went to The Animali farm , they are a non profit
501 c horse rescue I paid 1450 which will get her from Canada to either KY or VA.
The rescue has more than just foals too, and one thing the lady said about these horses was " think BLM mustang with papers"- they are all wild, so chances are this is their last hope.

It is a double edged sword, this whole situation.

Yes it is and no matter what these foals/horses need homes and I think it's great you were able to come through for one of them. After reading the post linked from this thread it made me wonder about how these ranches are profiting from these babies if it is indeed true that they are no longer under contract for PMU. That is why I was curious as to where the adoption fee went. BTW, I hope your baby makes it to VA vs. KY, much shorter drive to go pick em up!!

 

[Busterduck]

Thanks for the information. Makes you really think about the situation in a different light, they make alot of sense but it's still hard to decide which way to go with it. The asking price is very high for these foals and I wonder if the money goes to the rancher or to the rescue. I think around Md the average rescue price for a foal is under 1K. Transport costs of course add to the price but not that much.

The majority of PMU's at the Thurmont sale last year were sold fro $25 to $75 dollars each. One or two hit the $200 mark. These were ALREADY shipped from Canada.

 

[fredsaid2]

The majority of PMU's at the Thurmont sale last year were sold fro $25 to $75 dollars each. One or two hit the $200 mark. These were ALREADY shipped from Canada.

There you go! The rescue org in this thread may very well be legit but...the money is still going to the breeders however you slice it. It's like co-dependency, enabling by aiding.

 

[mygoldnhorse]

There you go! The rescue org in this thread may very well be legit but...the money is still going to the breeders however you slice it. It's like co-dependency, enabling by aiding.

The PMU breeding has slowed down alot but as we can see it has not stopped. The reason that some breeders are closing down is because it is not as profitable for them as it was in the past. Once the general public in or about the late 90's started catching on to where premarin came from women started choosing to use more natural remedies for menopausal symtoms instead of taking premarin. But I'm sure there is still a big market for the drug, because how many women do you think will really care what the horses have to endeavor for they're benefit? Ones I have talked too in the past were just grossed out that they were taking a pill that was manufactured using the urine of a pregnant mare. Not many cared about the mares and foals sacrifice.

I wonder how much the Rescue's pay for these foals? Probably the market price of what could be gotten if they were sent to slaughter plus a little more since these were the breeders best. The adoption fee does seem to include shipping up to 2000 miles which is what I imagine makes the fee so high? So in hence the other couple hundred produced have already been slaughtered.

If we're going to get red karma then I'll step up to the plate and take it.....because......
As long as women keep the cycle going by taking Premarin the longer it will take for them to stop using mares for this purpose. This is still where the real problem lies.

 

[GallopNTec]

There you go! The rescue org in this thread may very well be legit but...the money is still going to the breeders however you slice it. It's like co-dependency, enabling by aiding.

So how does the money get to the breeders?? and what happens to the ones at Thurmont that don't go for 200, or 25 or 50?

 

[Busterduck]

So how does the money get to the breeders?? and what happens to the ones at Thurmont that don't go for 200, or 25 or 50?

Most of the PMUs sold last year seemed to go to good homes from Thurmont. (At least that is the way it looked by who bought them). They all sold, as I recall. They just brought them in by pen. (Meaning the hearded them in as a bunch and started the bidding.) Buyer would pick then they would sell the others for the same price. If no one wanted them, they would start back low on the bidding. They were unhandled.

There is one meat buyer at Thurmont that I know. I won't name name's but he does own a company that sells horse trailers. He too would rather sell them to folks instead of to slaughter. Basically, he gets more money for them that way.

 

[fredsaid2]

So how does the money get to the breeders?? and what happens to the ones at Thurmont that don't go for 200, or 25 or 50?

Their website says 'the adoption fees are based on actual costs to purchase the horse and bring it from Canada'. So you pay Animali what they paid the breeder, probably plus transportation costs. Yes it's a good thing you could buy yours, congratulations!, but doing so also provides income to the mass breeder and perhaps encourages him to do it again next year.

Others will know for a fact but I think at certain sales the horse sells to a private owner or the meat men. The point in taking them is to sell....