Snowball

Little Snowball (or Schnowball, as we call her) was our BIG surprise at the end of Giving Tuesday 2024. 

When we saved Mabel the BLM burro, I looked for a companion to travel in the trailer with her to Malibu. There were no other donkeys at the pen, but there was a white, one-eyed, senior mini-pony with an auction sticker on her butt, who looked pretty banged up. This was Snowball and she immediately touched my heart.

Her fluffy coat, which was full of creepy crawlies, concealed how terribly emaciated she was. Her teeth were terrible so she needs a special diet. She felt so much better after her coat was shaved and she had her first bath.  The first mini-pony we have ever taken, she’s a lot of fun for the Malibu volunteers to pamper. 

Her left eye is called a phthisis bulbi. It is usually a consequence of trauma, infection, or uveitis, which is an immune mediated inflammation that causes the eye to shrink over time. On top of that, she has a cataract in the right eye, so did not see well in general.

None of this stopped her from running the paces they put her through at the pen. She hopped right on to the trailer that brought her to Skydog Malibu, where she and Mabel stuck together and romped on the hills.

Everyone was waiting to see what would happened when Boots, our mini-mule, met a spicy girl his own size. Snowball, like Boots, has a spirit that is much, much bigger than the package it comes in. As far as he is concerned, every mare at the ranch is already his, though none of the mares got that memo. After their first meeting, when he raced down the hill, kicking and throwing himself into the chase, he became more interested in bullying her off her food than anything else.

Then came Mustang Shelby, a tall, cool drink of water, and little Snowball was smitten. Every morning, when we open the gate, she runs down the hill whinnying all the way. He answers her to tell her where he is. He is so sweet to her, she adores him, follows him everywhere, and never leaves his side.

#skydogsnowball

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 Senators and urge them to support these bills:

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.

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 and stop production of Premarin & other PMU drugs.

Bills from the previous 118th Congress that we hope will be introduced again this 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.