Thousands of Canadian horses have found homes in the United States in the wake of cuts to the pregnant mares’ urine industry in Western Canada and North Dakota.
Wyeth Canada, the company that manufactures post-menopasual drugs extracted from the urine, is cutting the number of PMU ranches from 409 to 130. The reduction has been phased in, but it means that 26,000 mares will not be needed by the industry when the 2004-05 season rolls around.
The ranches leaving the industry are expected to keep only about 8,000 of those 26,000 mares. The other 18,000 mares have to go elsewhere.
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Norm Luba, executive director of the North American Equine Ranching Information Council, which represents PMU producers, reported good success in finding markets for the horses, mostly in the U.S. As of Jan. 16, more than 7,000 mares had gone through the program administered by council to co-ordinate sales and assist with transportation costs.
“They’re being sold all over the country, from California to Texas, from Florida to Maine,” Luba said. “The objective was to get them out of the Prairies, and that’s what we’re doing.”
Last October, Wyeth Canada announced it was cutting its production base to 264 ranches from 409. In December, it announced further cuts, which will leave the PMU industry with only 130 ranches by next fall. There will be 80 producers in Manitoba, 20 in Saskatchewan, 20 in Alberta and 10 in North Dakota.
The use of the drugs from PMU for hormone replacement therapy for women tumbled in the past year after a scientific study raised questions about potential side effects. Wyeth formulated reduced doses for those still using its products.
There have been loads of mares sold into British Columbia and Eastern Canada, but Luba said the council wanted to prevent a flood of mares from hitting the market and causing it to collapse. There was concern in October when the first round of cuts was announced, but things have turned around since then, he said.
Transportation subsidies for exiting producers do not cover horses sold directly into the meat market. Luba said he does not believe many horses have been disposed of that way.
Registered Quarter horses are among the PMU mares most sought after by American buyers, he said. There is also keen interest in open mares that can be used as surrogate mothers in embryo transfer programs.
Cross-bred draft horses are also in demand among southern U.S. buyers, who breed them to jacks to produce draft mules.
