Snowball
Little Snowball (or Schnowball, as we call her) was our BIG surprise at the end of Giving Tuesday 2024.
When we saved Mabel the BLM burro, I looked for a companion to travel in the trailer with her to Malibu. There were no other donkeys at the pen, but there was a white, one-eyed, senior mini-pony with an auction sticker on her butt, who looked pretty banged up. This was Snowball and she immediately touched my heart.
Her fluffy coat, which was full of creepy crawlies, concealed how terribly emaciated she was. Her teeth were terrible so she needs a special diet. She felt so much better after her coat was shaved and she had her first bath. The first mini-pony we have ever taken, she’s a lot of fun for the Malibu volunteers to pamper.
Her left eye is called a phthisis bulbi. Some people would leave it as it is, but it’s best to remove as it has to be uncomfortable. It is usually a consequence of trauma, infection, or uveitis, which is an immune mediated inflammation that causes the eye to shrink over time. On top of that, she has a cataract in the right eye, so did not see well in general.
None of this stopped her from running the paces they put her through at the pen. She hopped right on to the trailer that brought her to Skydog Malibu, where she and Mabel stick together and romp on the hills.
I think everyone was waiting to see what would happened when Boots, our mini-mule, met a girl his own size. As far as he was concerned, every mare at the ranch was already his, though none of the mares got that memo. When they met, she stomped and squealed to show him who was boss. She was so enticing, she distracted him from trying to steal her hay. She raced down the hill and he followed, kicking and throwing himself into the chase. Snowball, like Boots, has a spirit that is much, much bigger than the little package it comes in.
Snowball currently has a sponsor
By committing annually to a $100/month sponsorship of a mustang or burro, you help us enormously by supporting our existing rescues so we can continue saving more. To learn more about becoming a sponsor and see which animals need them:
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 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.