EDEN

Eden was 15 years old when we saved her from a kill pen. She was born wild in the Callaghan, NV, HMA. Rooster saved her life, so to tell her story, we have to tell his.

Rooster was rounded up as a baby and worked pretty much to death. When he lost his vision and needed humans the most, they failed him beyond words. His right eye had been stitched closed by the owner, likely to conceal the damage before sending him to auction. He had no sight in the left eye. He arrived at the kill pen in Louisiana alone, but was frantically calling out for a familiar horse. We always want our rescues to have a companion, so we found a mare who was desperately skinny. Her hooves were long from neglect. Her limp a testament to her lack of recent care. I was shocked by her condition. She would never have survived the ride to Mexico. This was Eden.

We sent them to quarantine at the same vet hospital. A friend of ours, Loretta, went to check on them. She broke into tears when she saw the physical condition of these sweet and gentle beings. Rooster had looked so sad and forlorn when he was alone, but after Eden arrived, he lifted his head. His ears started to swivel with interest. For proper quarantine, they couldn’t be in the same stall, but they could hear, smell, talk to one another, and bond.

Eden was fed up slowly so as not to risk colic. As soon as she was well and strong enough to travel, we decided to bring them to Oregon. Rooster turned in the trailer and put his head over the divider to rest on Eden the whole trip. They were taken directly to the vet hospital where Rooster followed Eden out of the trailer with some reassuring support from our wonderful hauler, Steve. He was calm as long as she was beside him. Tragically, the surgeon found extensive cancer had eaten into his eye socket and through to the sinus. There was nothing we could do to help him except let him go to sleep in peace and end his pain. But Rooster’s story did not end there.

Because of him, Eden was saved. She came to Skydog, where we poured our sorrow for him into loving and restoring her to vibrant health. Sweet, friendly, and very loving, she absorbed kindness like a sponge and adored being bathed. Someone at some point in her life had been good to her and we have to wonder how they would feel if they knew that she had been starved and dumped at a kill pen.

Eventually, we placed her with Cruiser’s family, where she immediately took to his foal, Tupelo Honey - who just happens to be blind in one eye. The nurturing, protective nature that Rooster depended upon makes her a perfect doting auntie to the youngsters in this band. Rooster’s gift to Eden was the best life at Skydog - and she was his great gift to us. The love, security, excellent care, and family she will have for rest of her days is our way of honoring them both..

#skydogeden

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”, 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.