charlie eyebrows

Charlie is an example of the awful places these horses can end up without good after checks and compliance inspections by the BLM. Charlie was sent to a TIP Trainer called Jessica Bishop who took in a number of mustangs to train them for sale. Sadly looking at the compliance documents which we have seen, she was inspected back in June and all the mustangs in her care were thin and had a body score of between 2-3.5 which is horribly starved. Charlie was seen then, but not seized. Sadly, he went on to get even thinner and his feet were never trimmed. His long feet led to him busting his digital flexor tendon as it was pulled so tight by the pressure from his untrimmed hooves.

He was sent to another TIP trainer. but she couldn’t work with him due to the fact that he was now crippled and lame on his front leg due to his tendon rupturing. The trainer wanted us to take him as he would potentially be euthanized if taken back to the BLM corrals. We requested to take and rehabilitate him. We were told we had to adopt him for $125 even though he was lame and injured.

We paid the fee and Charlie was placed on one year’s stall rest while he recovered. Charlie had a cast on his leg and orthopedic boots. He was not allowed to move much, but he healed. And it was well worth the wait as he was able to run around and be wild again with the passage of time.

Needless to say, his vet bills were extensive. The BLM denied us the $1000 incentive money to help with his medical expenses on the grounds that he had been with a TIP trainer. It was irrelevant to them that the trainer has starved him, broken his spirit, and never gentled him for handling. It’s amazing how easily they give these funds to corrupt adopters who dump them into the slaughter pipeline, while denying it to the good homes they claim the AIP exists for. The good news is that we aren’t in this for incentive funds and did everything necessary to give him a great life.

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.