Poppy
Sometimes it is hard to tell the story of a horse. So many people made mistakes and one mustang who had already been pulled from hell landed back in a whole new hell. Incredibly, she was part of a group of 8 mustangs pulled from a kill pen who had been adopted by TIP trainers and then a week later dumped. I have their adoption papers to prove it. She just kept asking for help and we didn’t know how to get her here. She was in Kentucky even though she was originally rounded up in Oregon! But where there’s a will there’s a way. I wish we didn’t have to see the worst of humanity but the flip side is that we also get to meet the very best - those with big hearts and generous spirits who feel as upset and angry about where these horses end up. You guys.
Along the way there was another kill pen mare in quarantine who needed help and when we found out she was from Cold Springs, Oregon I knew she had to come too. It’s been quite the journey for them and we took it slow and a chunk at a time. Firstly to Kansas to our quarantine Stephanie, then on to our hauler Carla, and finally Janelle and Koal went to Colorado to pick them up and bring them home.
As they were in Kentucky, we named the grey Moonshine and the sorrel Poppy for Memorial Day - as in England on remembrance day we wear Poppies. This mare was desperate and alone, hungry and terrified and now she’s not. How is that anything less than a miracle. And to help her feel safe we rescued a friend to travel home with her. All is well, all is well.
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”. There are several important provisions for animals in that omnibus federal law, including the Cat and Dog Meat Trade Prohibition Act. It is currently illegal to slaughter, transport, possess, purchase, sell, or donate dogs and cats, or their parts, for human consumption. The SAFE Act would extend the ban to equines and 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 and stop production of Premarin & other PMU drugs.
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.