Agnes

Agnes is one of three elderly burros, who were rounded up from the same herd on the Nevada range in December of 2021. They were brought to our attention at the Burns BLM corrals. Alice, Agnes, and Archibald, the Triple AAAs.

At her age, Agnes must have raised several generations on the range, but she lost them along with her freedom. We know this is devastating for burro mothers, who bond even more deeply with their foals than horses. In the wild, they usually stay with their offspring their whole lives. It hurts to think how much she had lost.

Agnes stayed close to her two friends when we picked them up at the corrals. Being a donkey, she is thoughtful and intelligent. When the Triple AAAs stopped to assess the situation before getting into the trailer, BLM staff pushed them in.

At Skydog, we opened the trailer door and let them make up their minds about taking that leap of faith into their new home. It was a matter of seconds, not minutes. They understood that this place was different from the holding facilities they’d survived. She jumped right out after Archibald with Alice and headed for the trees in their enclosure.

After all she had suffered, Agnes didn’t like humans when she arrived. We showed her our respect by keeping our distance and asking nothing of her. She stayed with her companions in a roomy, wooded pen until we were sure the two jennies were not pregnant. Then we gave them what they wanted and needed most:  freedom to roam with a wild herd on beautiful, western, open spaces.

#skydogagnes

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”, this omnibus federal law includes several important provisions for animals. Among them, the Cat and Dog Meat Trade Prohibition Act, which makes it illegal to slaughter, transport, possess, purchase, sell, or donate dogs and cats, or their parts, for human consumption. This SAFE Act would extend the prohibition to equines. Specifically, prohibiting a person from knowingly slaughtering an American equine for human consumption; or shipping, transporting, possessing, purchasing, selling, or donating an American equine to be slaughtered for human consumption. This bill will 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, stop production of Premarin & other PMU drugs, and defund the Adoption Incentive Program.

You can also tell your Rep and Senators that you want these bills from the previous Congress introduced again this session:

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.