SOOTY & SHELDON
Sooty and Sheldon were rescued from ISPMB - which is a horribly failed mustang sanctuary in South Dakota. The horses there were found starved and freezing to death when people reported the owner for hoarding and mistreating the horses in her care. The sanctuary was seized by the county and they allowed some wonderful organizations to help find adopters for these horses.
Sooty and Sheldon were not in good health when they arrived with another mare and foal. Both the babies were wormy and all four horses were mangy, had lice and mites and a bad case of shipping fever. But these horses are fighters to have survived that place and a tough haul in difficult conditions in the middle of winter. They have thrived and transform every day before our eyes. These are some amazing horses and from the Sheldon herd so it is an honor to have them with us at Skydog.
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.
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.
A bill from the previous 118th Congress that we hope will be introduced again this session:
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.