Ireland
Ireland was rounded up as a baby in Nevada, taken from the wild with her family, chased by a helicopter into a trap and then immediately separated from her mother when she needed her the most. She was adopted right there and taken away with another foal named Luna. I can only be glad that they had each other during that scary time and they were adopted by a well know anti-mustang ranching family. They were then dumped together at Fallon Feedlot, hours away from shipping to slaughter. We managed to rescue her just in the nick of time and are so thankful we did. She was completely terrified when we got her and now likes to be around people and is the first to the fence to look for treats and snacks.
She was described as being heavily pregnant which is so appalling that they were about to ship her to slaughter in that condition. Many horses do not make the long hauls to Mexico or Canada and the weaker horses often fall and are trampled to death by other horses in panic on the truck. Another rescue saved her friend Luna but when they realized the two horses were friends they reached out to us to keep them together. Luna and Ireland are still at Skydog Oregon.
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.