Ava & Constance

Two mustang mares in a kill pen needed our help. Ava, a youngster, is in the spring of her life, while Constance is in the winter of hers. Both were betrayed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the corrupt federal bureau mandated to protect wild horses, and the middlemen who profit from doing their dirty work.

Ava’s mother was pregnant when she was rounded up from Calico Mountain. She gave birth to her foal in holding. In the course of her short life, Ava had been transported from the Fallon BLM where she was born, to Ewing Illinois, back to Fallon, to Carson City, to Bruneau, and back to Ewing within just a few months. To do this to babies is unconscionable and shows how little the BLM’s Wild Horse & Burro Program cares.

When she was two years old, she was sold Sale Authority in July 2025 for $25 with zero protections, purchased by a man in Oklahoma. One month later, we found her standing in a kill pen with a massive, infected chest injury, full of fluid, most likely from a hard kick. Perhaps her owner dumped her to avoid expensive vet bills. She’s one of many young mustangs being funneled into the slaughter pipeline as fast as the BLM can sell them SA.

The local vet drained lots of blood, puss, and wad in quarantine. Our vet in Oregon continued her care with our equine staff putting in so much time draining the chest and keeping it clean to get rid of the infection. Ava is sweet and obviously had some training. She buddied up Hedy Lemarr, who came in for rehab in the elk barn after coincidentally being kicked out in the large herd. Once they had healed, we released them together into Buddy’s Herd, where Ava has the whole rest of her life as a wild horse to look forward to.

Constance was a petite, horribly thin, bay mustang. Skin and bones, it broke the heart to think of the neglect that caused this. She was born in 1999 - and you know how important it is to me to help seniors. They have almost no chance of being adopted and the environment of a kill pen is terrifying and confusing at any age. She needed good food, care, and love and we couldn’t wait to give that to her. She traveled with Ava on the ride to Skydog Oregon.

We introduced Constance to Rosa, who is totally blind. It turned out to be a wonderful match. We watched Constance lead Rosa on a careful run around the front of her pen. It was so precise and thoughtful of Constance to guide her along the fence line and through the trees, while staying within a short distance of her. This is more beautiful proof of the emotional intelligence of horses. Constance wanted to run about, but didn't want her friend to be left alone, so she took her along. One day, she ran towards the front fence, but turned her body to make sure Rosa didn’t run into it. When the move was successful, Constance gave a little buck of happiness.

#skydogava   #skydogconstance

American 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 two Senators to urge them to support these bills. 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

Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act of 2025 (H.R.1661 in the House and S.775 in the Senate). This bill would amend the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, commonly known as the “Farm Bill”. There are several important provisions for animals in that omnibus federal law, including the Cat and Dog Meat Trade Prohibition Act. It is currently illegal to slaughter, transport, possess, purchase, sell, or donate dogs and cats, or their parts, for human consumption. The SAFE Act would extend the ban to equines and 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. 4356) The bill would eliminate the use of helicopters in rounding up wild horses and burros, and require a study into alternative methods for humanely gathering the animals.

Ejiao Act of 2025 (H.R. 5544). 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.

See our How to Help menu for other actions to ban zebra hunting at canned hunt ranches in Texas & Oklahoma, bringing an end to the BLM using Sale Authority to funnel wild equines into the slaughter pipeline, and stopping production of Premarin & other drugs made from pregnant mare urine.