ABOUT US
At the sanctuary, located in the gorgeous Sierra foothills of Northern California, we will give previously wild, now tragically displaced, mustangs and burros a permanent, safe, and compassionate home.
They will live out their days with friends, forage, and as much freedom as we can give them. Our desire to restore their sense of autonomy and sovereignty is at the very core of why we are starting a sanctuary; it should never have been taken from them in the first place.
WILD MUSTANGS & BURROS
Our native mustangs and burros are being eradicated from the ranges of the West, where they are supposedly federally protected. This underscores the second core pillar of our non-profit, which is to educate the public on the plight of our wild equines and encourage advocacy at all levels.
We must defend and preserve them. We could lose them forever if we do not speak up now. We are their voice.
VIOLENT HELICOPTER ROUNDUPS
Cruelly run for hours in summer heat, they are terrified and exhausted, many are injured, foals can't keep up, and there are inevitable deaths.
WILD EQUINES ARE BEING CHASED OFF THEIR LAND
The land promised to wild horses and burros has shrunk by 41% (more than 15 million acres). Amendments to the 1971 Act allow the government to remove wild horses deemed ‘excess’ in the name of 'population control.'
LOADING AND TRANSPORT TO SHORT-TERM CORRALS
Forced into tightly packed trailers, something they have never experienced, leading to more desperation and more injuries.
Death rates post-capture are an average of 12%.
TRAP PEN AND SORTING
Driven into small pens, they are separated from family and deprived of food and water. Panic and terror set in - and injuries result.
TEMPORARY HOLDING FACILITIES
Families are torn apart, and freedom is lost.
If they survive injury, illness and death, one of three things happens next...
1.
2.
Entails one year of federal oversight often yielding good results, but after one year they are titled and become private property, and then anything is possible...
They made it to a good home!
Many mustangs and burros do hit
the jackpot and live out their days in wonderful homes.
SALE AUTHORITY
Horses older than 10 or with 3 failed adoption opportunities (and recently even some yearlings) can be sold with no oversight for $25, immediately becoming private property and almost always funneled into the auction system which, for untrained horses, usually leads to the slaughter pipeline.
Sadly, this is the fate of too many of our wild horses and burros who were supposedly protected by Federal law.
The reality is that since wild equines are not domesticated, many well-intended people are not equipped to house them safely, which can be difficult or dangerous, for both horse and human; and they end up rehomed, sold, or sent to auction.
TO CONFINE RATHER THAN CONSERVE
It costs $50,000 to warehouse each horse for life–that is a staggering $3 billion in taxpayer dollars.
3.
Moved to pasture without their family in often over crowded pens with minimal vet care and zero stimulation, invisible to the public yet funded by taxpayers, there is no chance of getting out, they will die here.
There are over 60,000 wild equines languishing in long-term holding.
THE END.
