strongheart
This beautiful 16-year-old mare was not known to us on the range. We met her the day we went to the adoption event and some ladies who had known her and followed her for years were visibly upset at seeing her so thin and beaten up. The 10 months of being in this holding pen had taken a terrible toll on her physically and mentally and she seemed so broken after being such a fierce and strong mare on the range. She was very thin, and her mane and tail had been chewed off by babies in the corrals who were either hungry or stressed. A thing we have only ever seen in a kill pen save. Her spirit seemed to have given up the will to go on and she didn’t want to eat or make eye contact or move. A few days later another haul arrived with another older mare, Hera, and we found out the night before she arrived that Hera and Strongheart had been best friends when they were in the same band for several years. Hera arriving quite literally breathed life in Strongheart and she came back to herself and little by little has regained weight and is starting to look more like the mare people knew on the range. What a twist of fate but somehow we believe that something bigger than us is watching over us and helping these horses from above. We are so thankful to Hera. #skydogstrongheart
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.