Pippi & Zilli

We decided to take Pippi (the small girl) and Zilli (the very large one) as educational saves. Lately, we’ve been inundated with people asking us to take zonkeys. There is a very good reason for that: They are half zebra! Many people purchase or breed these animals as they look amazing with their mohawks, brown and black stripes. Because of the zebra DNA, many go crazy in confinement. They are wild animals that can be dangerous to handle. This is through no fault of their own, this hybrid just shouldn’t be bred.

We received the following email from the wonderful people in Tennessee, who rescued them. They truly understood the zonkeys and knew sanctuary was the best thing for them.

My husband originally bought them because he felt so deeply for their situation. We strongly believe in rescue and adoption, and while purchasing animals is not typically our path, we simply couldn’t bear the thought of these girls ending up in the wrong kind of home. Bringing them here felt like a good way to keep them safe.

Pippi, the smaller of the two, is quite donkey-like in nature and can be handled easily. Zilli, the larger one, is much more skittish and nearly impossible to halter. Interestingly, Zilli was once trained to be ridden -  believe it or not. When we first got her, she was so mentally broken that you could barely get near her. Despite that, she is a very sweet soul. She enjoys our company, but usually only wants to be petted - which isn’t often.

While they are happy here, my dream for Pippi and Zilli is complete freedom. I long to see them roam freely, together, the way the equines do at your sanctuary. Their staying together is essential to us, as their bond is very strong.

The description of Zilli being mentally broken by training is a good description of most zonkeys. It’s a consequence of breeding two such different equines with very different temperaments and psychologies.  In most cases, without regular, daily reinforcement of their training, they slip back into wild unpredictability.  In captivity, they can be deeply unhappy, confused, stressed, and aggressive. All of this makes them ideal candidates for sanctuary life.

We don’t take these intakes lightly, but we also feel it is massively important to educate people on why it’s such a bad idea to breed them. We have nothing but praise for their rescuers for saving them from a bad situation, listening to them, and for fighting so hard to give them what they need. Here, they will be handled in a chute for safety and enjoy space and freedom with wild herds of burros, mustangs, and other zonkeys.

#skydogpippi      #skydogzilli

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.