Comet, Sunbeam & Moonbeam

Sale Authority

After Dave Philipps at The New York Times exposed the sale authority scandal, we felt it was important that people understand it is not only mustangs being funneled into the slaughter pipeline by the Bureau of Land Management. Over the period of time that we were tracking sale authority animals, there were 2,214 burros sold sale authority, and 39 landed in kill pens - that we know about.

We found a large group of burros at the kill pen. Donkeys do so badly in these places. They are extremely vulnerable to the horrible diseases there and foals die quickly. We knew we had to act fast and get some of the mamas and babies out quickly.

Many had already been bought, but we noticed Sunbeam standing in the corner. Her coat was very matted and scraggly and she was pregnant.

We also took Comet, one of the older children who was left behind when their mother, who was pregnant, was bought by someone else. Donkeys bond even more strongly than mustangs and mothers tend to stay with their offspring all their lives, so separating them is terribly cruel.

Comet is so beautiful, our first "no light points" donkey. Her face is completely dark. A fascinating fact about this feature is that in folklore, dark-nosed or dark-faced donkeys were traditionally called sweeps' or smugglers' donkeys. Their lack of white facial markings made them much harder to spot in the dark by authorities or customs men.

We knew Sunbeam was pregnant, but we didn’t realize how far along. Once she felt safe enough, she relaxed and had her little boy in the comfort of the quarantine where she was recovering from her ordeal. He’s healthy and nursing, got his colostrum, and is doing well. I cried with joy at the news. We asked our followers to help us pick a name for him and the winner was Moonbeam. We wanted them all to have names of light that broke out of the darkness they had fallen in to.

This precious little foal will never know the terror that his mother and auntie suffered. They were shy of humans at quarantine, but donkeys are spectacular souls. Even the wildest of them gentle down with kindness and care, loving human touch, and affection. They soak it up. 

When they arrived at the barn in Oregon, Comet was the first to step out of the trailer, followed by Sunbeam, who did a Super Girl leap. Moonbeam followed his mom’s example, then skipped down the aisle. Having only known love and kindness from humans since the day he was born, he is eagerly exploring his new world of wonder. When he is big enough, we will turn him out with Sunbeam and Comet to join our wild burro herd.

#skydogcomet #skydogsunbeam #skydogmoonbeam

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.