Forever homes: Skydog Ranch and Sanctuary near Prineville saves wild mustangs, burros from ‘slaughter pipeline’

(Update: Adding video, comments from staff)

PRINEVILLE, Ore. (KTVZ) -- A sanctuary near Prineville is saving wild mustangs and donkeys from kill pens and auctions. 

"We're literally inundated with requests to take wild horses and donkeys out of the slaughter pipeline," Clare Staples, Skydog Ranch and Sanctuary's founder and president, said Wednesday.

The nonprofit 9,000-acre Skydog Ranch Sanctuary rescues animals in need of rehabilitation. Specifically, wild mustangs who experienced neglect, starvation, and abuse. In addition to having wild mustangs, they also have donkeys.

There are eight people on any given day helping at the ranch.

Ranch Manager Judson Birza said, "Seeing the horses in their natural element is rewarding to me -- you know, running around free. "

The ranch also helps families of horses find each other again, after they may have been separated in Bureau of Land Management wild-horse roundups. 

Currently on the ranch, there's more than 200 mustangs and about 50 donkeys and mules.

Staples said, "People will send me posts from kill pens or at auctions, livestock auctions. We also take a lot of owner relinquishments, people that have adopted a mustang but then can't do anything with it."

The nonprofit also takes directly from BLM corrals.

Birza said, "Most people don't realize there's 50,000 horses in long-term holding in the BLM corral, and there's more roundups happening every year."

 The ranch has taken in a total of seven horses this year from the BLM corrals and "slaughter pipeline." 

Here is more about the sanctuary, and a new book from Staples, from a news release we received:

Every year, over 150,000 American horses are sent to be inhumanely slaughtered and many of those are mustangs. Skydog Sanctuary’s biggest, most important mission is to shine a spotlight on the issues facing wild horses while continuing to rescue as many as possible. Founded with a vision of compassion and preservation, Skydog Ranch Sanctuary stands as a testament to Clare's solid commitment to reuniting animal families and providing them with a safe place after enduring the challenges of roundup and separation in America.

In addition to Clare's ongoing mission to shed light on the plight of wild horses and donkeys, she is set to officially announce her latest book, 'Wild Horses of Skydog: Blue Zeus & Families.' In this extraordinary book, readers are immersed in the journey of 21 horse families, including the iconic Blue Zeus, whose traumatic tale symbolizes the hope and determination driving Skydog's mission.

ABOUT ‘WILD HORSES OF SKYDOG: BLUE ZEUS & FAMILIES’

Readers meet 21 horse families, including that of Blue Zeus, the stunning Wyoming stallion who Staples admired in the wild for years before.

In the fall of 2020, his herd was slated for roundup and captured, in one day losing both their freedom and each other. The story of the urgent search for him and his mares and foals, and their eventual reunion in the hills of Oregon, encapsulates all that Skydog hopes to accomplish for hundreds more horses in the years ahead.

Incredibly moving, inspiring, and offering the hope of wildness and beauty preserved for future generations, this book is for every animal lover and all those who honor the natural inhabitants of the American West.