Recommendations for Ensuring Good Welfare of Horses Used for Industrial Blood, Serum, or Urine Production.
Abstract: Various pharmaceutical products have been derived from horse blood and urine for over a century. Production of biologics and therapeutics from these samples is a niche industry and often occurs in regions with little regulation or veterinary oversight. To ensure good welfare of horses maintained for these purposes, guidance has been developed to support the industry.
Publication Date: 2021-05-20 PubMed ID: 34065236PubMed Central: PMC8161321DOI: 10.3390/ani11051466Google Scholar: Lookup
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Summary
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The research seeks to lay down recommendations aimed at promoting the welfare of horses used in industries for blood, serum, or urine product manufacturing. These industries, often unregulated, use horse blood and urine to produce therapeutics and biologics, raising the need for appropriate guidelines to ensure the horses’ well-being.
Overview of the Horses’ Industries
- The use of horses in the production of pharmaceuticals spans over a century. This research article focuses particularly on those horses used for blood, urine and serum production. Their samples are primarily used to produce biologics and therapeutics.
- These industries are niche, meaning they serve a specialized sector of the market. As such, they are more prevalent in regions with little to no regulation or veterinary oversight.
- Due to the lack of regulatory measures, the welfare of these horses could potentially be at risk, hence the necessity for the development of suitable guidelines to protect them.
Necessity for Regulations
- As highlighted in the study, industries using horse samples operate in regions with minimal veterinary regulation. This potentially leaves the industry open to practices that might endanger the welfare of the animals.
- Such industries need specific regulations to assure that the horses are taken care of appropriately. Guidelines or recommendations are necessary not just for the welfare of the animals, but they also service the industries by, for example, ensuring the health and therefore the quality of the products derived from the horses.
Proposed Guidelines for Ensuring Horse Welfare
- The research proposes the creation of guidance or recommendations aimed at supporting these unregulated industries. These measures are essential in providing satisfactory animal care, ensuring the welfare of horses, and thereby facilitating the continual production of pharmaceuticals.
- These guidelines would institute measures to guarantee the health of the horses during their service in the industry. They would include everything from appropriate feeding, housing, and handling practices to provisions for veterinary care.
- Ensuring proper horse welfare is a practical necessity for the industry as it consequently guarantees the production of high-quality pharmaceutical products.
Cite This Article
APA
Manteca Vilanova X, Beaver B, Uldahl M, Turner PV.
(2021).
Recommendations for Ensuring Good Welfare of Horses Used for Industrial Blood, Serum, or Urine Production.
Animals (Basel), 11(5), 1466.
https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11051466 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- School of Veterinary Science, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Barcelona, Spain.
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-4474, USA.
- Vejle Equine Practice, 7120 Vejle, Denmark.
- Global Animal Welfare & Training, Charles River, Wilmington, MA 01887, USA.
- Department of Pathobiology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada.
Conflict of Interest Statement
The authors declare no conflict of interest. Charles River had no role in the writing of the manuscript.
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