BIRDIE

Since we started Skydog we have had our fair share of miracles but we are never less grateful and amazed when another one appears. This is Birdie. She is the 3rd mustang we saved on Giving Tuesday. This mare was in Texas with a horse trader who was talking about getting rid of her in a pretty graphic way. We paid for her and our hauler picked her up. Something about her walk and eye and casual demeanor made us sit up and have the weirdest feeling about her…

To understand this better we must first explain who Buddy is and why Skydog was started. He was Clare’s original mustang and when they would ride he would stop and sigh and look out and she would get this overwhelming message from him “find my family, help my family”. I know it sounds a little crazy, but this entire sanctuary was founded on that feeling from her beloved Buddy. One of the first things we did was find 3 mares from his herd in Little Humboldt NV and we brought them back to him the year we started. Champ ran off with them a while ago and Buddy didn’t mind and we knew we had done our best. Well, something in the way this mare walked and her essence reminded us of him and yesterday her brand came back and she is from Little Humboldt, rounded up one day apart from Buddy in 2004. Finally, after 17 years apart, we found his family or the closest thing to that. Birdie is settling in very well and none of the horses are pushing her away. She’s not worried or upset so it’s a good start. Luckily Buddy is the leader of this herd so they take their cues from him, so all is peaceful and well. #skydogbird

Mustangs & Burros Need your help

In addition to supporting our work by donating, becoming a patron on Patreon, or sponsoring a Skydog, there are several important pieces of legislation to protect American equines currently moving through Congress. It only takes a few minutes to contact your Rep and Senators and urge them to support these bills:

Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act of 2023 (H.R. 3475 in the House / S.2307 in the Senate). This bill will shut down the slaughter pipeline that sends some 20,000 American horses and donkeys to savagely monstrous deaths in foreign slaughterhouses every year.

The Wild Horse & Burro Protection Act of 2023 (H. R. 3656) This bill will prohibit the use of helicopters or fixed-wing aircraft in the management of wild mustangs and burros on public lands, and require a report on humane alternatives to current management practices.

Ejiao Act of 2023 (H.R. 6021). To ​​ban the sale or transportation of ejiao, a gelatin made from boiling donkey skins, or products containing ejiao in interstate or foreign commerce, which brutally kills millions of donkeys primarily for beauty products and Chinese medicine.

You can Contact Members of Congress by calling the Capitol Switchboard (202) 224-3121‬, submitting contact forms on their individual websites, or sending one email to all three simultaneously at www.democracy.io

See our How to Help menu for other actions to ban zebra hunting at US canned hunt ranches, stop production of Premarin & other PMU drugs, and defund the Adoption Incentive Program.