tank

Oh, dear darling Tank who won all of our hearts for Giving Tuesday and helped us raise enough money to take in two more horses in need. This was the first photo I saw of Tank at the kill pen and my heart sank. I knew that anyone looking at this unhandled wild horse with so many potential and expensive health issues would not take him on. This was a special case that needed our help and a way for us to treat him in our chute without anyone getting hurt. We knew he was a large and strong mustang in his twenties who might be anything less than cooperative at this point. But there was ABSOLUTELY no way we could leave him there. Thank goodness we still had #givingtuesday coming up and we could make him our save. It was such a relief to get him out and into quarantine before he could travel to us on the big day.

And so we started the day with a photo of Tank and a plea for help never imagining in our wildest dreams that we would raise what we did to bring him and two other horses home to us. When he arrived he wasn’t the sick and unhealthy horse I had imagined meeting and when the vet came to do blood work suspecting he had insulin resistance and most like Cushing’s, we were both amazed that he was a completely healthy horse. The only issue he has is dental with a serious teeth disorder that involves removing some of his teeth which we will do shortly. He is in training for gentling and he is always happy to take a low sugar treat from your hand. He is one amazing boy and we thank him and you all for helping bring him to Skydog for the perfect retirement. #skydogtank

Mustangs and 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.