Bear Valley Rescue Information

We first became involved in horse rescue when we learned about pmu farms. The pmu industry started in the middle of the 1900's with the advent of hormone replacement therapy for women. Pregnant Mare Urine (pmu) farms bred mares in order to collect their urine during pregnancy. The foals resulting from this breeding were often merely a by-product and were sent to auction in the fall so the mares, already re-bred, could return to the barns for urine collection. Because of the large number of foals being born in pmu farms every year (there were over 200 pmu farms in Canada by the turn of the century and most farms had, at minimum, at least 50 mares and often 100 or more), most would subsequently be purchased by meat buyers and shipped to slaughter. On our first trip to a feedlot we ended up purchasing 12 horses. Being faced with hundreds of horses in pens, knowing they were all shipping to slaughter, was no easy thing, and selecting just a few to save was heartbreaking. A few years later, with a downturn in the pmu industry because of concerns about cancer in women taking pmu drugs, we started buying pmu mares that were being culled (all pregnant, of course), and had the privilege of meeting Jennifer Kunz through pmuFoalQuest (she is now the manager of Duchess Sanctuary in Oregon). The rest, as they say, is history. The Rescue has taken on a life of its own, and we now have about 150 horses in our care, along with other resident animals such as rabbits, chickens, pigs, goats, llamas and cows. Since our inception we have found good homes for many wonderful horses. The Rescue is located in west-central Alberta, on 40 acres. We are so fortunate to have understanding neighbours who are very generous in helping out, mainly by donating the use of land for pasture for the horses. As we find homes for these animals, we can save more of them. It is incredibly sad the number of good horses that end up being slaughtered because no one wants them. Over-breeding, neglect, and a lucrative export meat market all contribute to ...