UPDATE:
GREAT NEWS! We’re nearing our $10,000 goal to reunite four wild mares that were captured, taken from their home range, neglected, and dumped at auctions that feed the slaughter pipeline.
If you’d like to help make this reunion possible, please click here to donate. We’re raising money for transportation, weeks in quarantine, feed and supplements, and vaccinations.
Thanks to all who’ve donated so far!
Nesta, left, and Olivia on the range. Photo courtesy of Wild Horse Photo Safaris.
We won’t forget about them!
They were captured, taken from their home range, neglected, and dumped at auctions that feed the slaughter pipeline, but now Return to Freedom has an opportunity to reunite four special wild mares.
We can only do this with your help.
The mares lived wild and free on the Onaqui Mountain Herd Management Area in Utah, where they were part of a family band led by a stallion known as Oreo, who died of an injury on the range.
In 2021, the mares were among 435 wild horses captured in a government helicopter roundup in which they were ripped away from their freedom and each other.
A Life of Hardship
Since then, Cleopatra, Olivia, Nesta and Lulu have endured a journey filled with suffering. They have been sold multiple times, survived neglect, and ended up in kill pens, narrowly escaping being shipped to a Mexican slaughterhouse.
Red Bird Trust saw Cleopatra show up at auction and was able to save her. They contacted RTF looking for a safe sanctuary. We asked if they knew where any of her other family band members might be found. We were informed that three of Cleopatra’s family had ended up in Florida after going through multiple owners, enduring neglect and significant weight loss along the way.
In the photos that we received of the mares on the range, we noticed that one of them, Olivia, is inseparable from Cleopatra. We believe Olivia is Cleopatra’s daughter!
Cleopatra, 8, arrived safely at Return to Freedom’s Lompoc, Calif., flagship sanctuary from Texas in late June (click for video). While in quarantine here, she has bonded with Romeo, a recently rescued gelding from Nevada’s Virginia Range. Together, they will be released into the rolling hills. BUT— we are hoping her three bandmates will also join her!
We Can’t Do This Without You
We have a rare chance to reunite Cleopatra with Olivia and family — stretching our capacity as large as our hearts — but ONLY if we can raise the $10,000 needed to cover all the costs of this amazing reunion.
The other mares, ages 5-16, are currently in quarantine in Florida. Costs include over $6,000 for transportation, weeks in quarantine, feed and supplements, vaccinations, and everything else needed to prepare them for a safe journey.
Cleopatra, Olivia, Nesta and Lulu have already endured and lost so much. They deserve to live out their lives free from harm at the sanctuary.
Please continue to follow their story and be part of a happy ending to their journey.
A special thank you to Jen Rogers of Red Bird Trust.
Wild and free on the range
Neglect along the way
Photos courtesy of Wild Horse Photo Safaris and Red Bird Trust