hank

Hank is a handsome dun gentleman with a stunning mane that has every golden hue you can imagine and beautiful highlights. I got a text message from a horse trader, who asked me to take a 22-year-old mustang with a huge hernia on his side. The vet in Oklahoma said he needed surgery. In Barnaby’s honor, we arranged to have him hauled to Malibu. Our wonderful hauler, Steve, drove through the cool of the night to beat the heat and the Fourth of July traffic. It is ironic that this holiday celebrating liberty and freedom coincides with roundups in Wyoming that steal these very things from mustangs and burros. In the face of the brutal and unjustified roundups, I'm grateful to be able to save one more.

Hank did quarantine at our previous ranch in Malibu with his two donkey travel mates, Domino and a very pregnant Dolly. There were no other equines there, which was perfect. As many places in the country were experiencing record high temperatures, these three began their healing in the cool Malibu summer. The marine layer and ocean breezes kept the temps low until afternoon.

Hank was born on 7 October 2002 in an off-range pasture (long term holding) in Kansas. Today it is listed as a facility for over 2000 geldings.  Adopted out when he was two, we don’t know where Hank has been all this time. We have reason to hope that he was treated kindly at some point as he is well trained and very gentle. He has saddle rub marks up his back and his feet are long and cracked. His hernia looks like he impaled himself on something, but the scar appears to be old. Thankfully, the vet determined that no surgical intervention was needed. 

The bond between Hank and Domino deepened at the vet clinic, when Domino was gelded and Hank had an infected tooth removed. Once recovered, it was so good to let them loose to join the Malibu gang. Apache, Cisco, Harry, and Boots all lined up along the fence, eagerly and politely, to greet them.

#skydoghank

 Helping Mustangs & Burros

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 2023 (H.R. 3475 in the House / S.2307 in the Senate). 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.

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.

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.