gypsy rose
Gypsy Rose is a mare, whom we were always meant to take.
Before there was a Skydog Sanctuary, I donated to save mustangs to go to other homes. A rescue was fundraising to save Gypsy from a killpen in Washington and I paid her bail. She was one of many such horses, whom donors donate to rescue. They assume or hope for the best, but really have no idea where they will end up.
Years later, a local rescue, Equine Outreach, had to find homes for many of their horses. We said yes to a family of Kiger Mustangs, seniors who needed to stay together. At that time, we were also asked take a horse named Gypsy and keep her for a month or so until her adoption was completed.
When the adoption fell through, we realized this was the same Gypsy at the kill pen that I had paid to bail years before. She was back in a rescue after being adopted several times because she is quite the handful!
Fiery and hot, she caused a fuss with other mares. We added her to Champ’s herd, where she knows her place. He runs a tight ship and takes very good care of his mares.
One of the reasons I founded Skydog was I got tired of donating to non-profits to save animals that ended up back in the slaughter pipeline. When we save a horse, they are safe for the rest of their lives. This is our promise, our guarantee to them. Gypsy Rose will live here, adored by Champ and adored by us to the end of her happy days.
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.
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.