Antony Barnett, Public Affairs Editor
Sunday August 15, 1999
Hormones from the urine of menopausal Italian nuns have been injected into British cows in a controversial practice aimed at breeding genetically superior cattle. The urine of menopausal women is rich in the hormone gonadotrophin, which stimulates ovaries to produce eggs. The hormone has already been used in fertility treatment for women and is now part of a contentious 'embryonic transfer' fertility technique to increase the genetic quality of herds.
Cows with high quality genes are injected with the hormone which makes them produce several eggs instead of one. These are harvested and fertilised with bull semen. The embryos are implanted into normal cows who give birth to supercalves. The practice has been condemned as 'cruel and ethically unacceptable' by Compassion in World Farming. A spokeswoman said: 'The process is unnatural. The cows have to be anaesthetised because embryos are forced through their cervix which is closed.'
The practice, carried out by a handful of specialist vets in Britain, is used on only the best quality cows and can be highly profitable for farmers. Embryos sell for between £200 and a £1,000. Until the BSE epidemic, Britain, with one of the best pedigree herds in the world, had a thriving trade in exporting embryos.
Harry Coulthard, a vet and director of Cattletech who helped the urine-derived product obtain a licence in the UK, said: 'It is very effective at superovulating cows, but it is used sparingly as it is more expensive than other hormones which produce the same results.'
The hormone trades under the name Pergovet and a 2cc vial costs about £6. Experts claim 14 or 15 such containers need to be used on one cow. Coulthard denies it causes unnecessary suffering in animals: 'This is an established technique and well-respected internationally. It is certainly better for animal welfare to export embryos instead of live cattle.'
The process of extracting the hormone from urine was developed in the Fifties by Italian drug firm Serono, then part-owned by the Vatican. A Serono spokeswoman said today urine is collected from menopausal women all around the world.
Trevor Steel, vice president of the US company AB Technology, which specialises in embryo technology in farm animals and globally distributes Pergovet, said: 'The reason nuns' urine was used is not because they lead chaste and pure lives but because convents were offered a convenient method of collecting large enough quantities from a group of menopausal older women.'
Other hormones used in embryonic transfer are extracted from sheep pituitary glands. Today's revelations come as use of hormones in cattle is coming under closer scrutiny.
*The Observer revealed last week the use of pituitary hormones from brains of slaughtered animals have been blamed by some scientists for sparking the BSE epidemic.
The Soil Association, which represents the UK organic farming industry, is opposed to hormones. It also claims farm animals are being pumped so full of antibiotics that drug-resistant diseases can be passed on to humans. The association calculated that more than 400 tonnes of antibiotics are used on farm animals in Britain.
There is also widespread criticism of growth hormones used in the US on cattle to boost beef and milk yields. These are banned in Europe but at the centre of an international trade war between the EU and the US. American biotech companies such as Monsanto believe these hormones are safe for export to Europe.
There is also concern that British farmers may be injecting their animals with illegally imported antibiotics and hormones. They avoid veterinary controls by bringing in the drugs from other parts of Europe, particularly Ireland.
