The most widely prescribed drug for menopausal women comes at a controversial price.

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WARNING: Premarin Horse Video May Be Disturbing

According to animal rights activists, the hormone Premarin is made from urine from pregnant mares, and the mares can endure horrible conditions while their urine is collected, WLWT Eyewitness News 5 reported.

"Premarin stands for pregnant mares' urine and that's where it comes from," horse owner Kim Stauch said. "People are shocked that it comes from that."

How is the estrogen-rich urine collected? More than 75,000 pregnant horses are hooked up to collection devices. The process means chaining them up in stalls and keep them as still as possible for as long as five months at a time, according to WLWT.

Chris DeRose, spokesman for the group Last Chance For Animals, is among the animal rights activists who believe the process is abusive.

"Inside the barns, you see ice on the walls, and they have to lay down on cold, ice-cold concrete floors," DeRose said. "What they go through is absolutely miserable."

DeRose said that tens of thousands of mares are impregnated and tied up each year. The horses get no exercise and little water until they give birth.

And what happens to the foals after they are born?

"The ones that don't get adopted go to slaughter," DeRose said.

The foals that survive the frigid weather and are still young enough to be nursing are trucked to auction houses. The foals that are not bought at auction are taken to slaughterhouses, where their meat is harvested for dog food or European markets.

"The way they kill them, they have to smell the fear of the other horses, so they have to know," DeRose said.

Videotape of horses at a slaughterhouse shows animals that appear to be neglected: Hooves in bad shape, open wounds, horses packed in trucks, and most-disturbing, a still-alive horse hanging face down with part of her legs cut off.

A spokesman for Wyeth Ayerst, the pharmaceutical giant that manufactures Premarin, responded with the following statement about the video seen on WLWT: "The video you've seen is part of a long standing misinformation campaign these animal rights groups have perpetrated and does not provide the view of how important these animals are to us and how much we've spent on the welfare of these horses."

The most ironic part of this urine collection business is that may not be worth it. The U.S. Government recently issued a warning to women about taking hormones like Premarin.

"It increases the risk of breast cancer increase risk of heart disease stroke and blood clots," Dr. Jesse Hanley said.

DeRose wants the disturbing video of the horses involved in the production of Premarin will prompt change.

"I think women are caring enough, and if they see what's going on, it will start to make a difference," DeRose said.

Stauch is among those who are making a difference already. She adopted three of her horses through a program that rescues animals used in the production of Premarin.

"They were only 7 months old when they got here," Stauch said. "I can't imagine any one of these three horses going to slaughter and not having a home."

Wyeth Ayerst announced recently that the company is cutting back on Premarin production because of recent studies on the health risks, WLWT reported.

Stay tuned to WLWT Eyewitness News 5 and ChannelCincinnati.com for updates.