02/24/2026
Say hi to our new resident: sweet, one-eyed Jonas! 🐴
His journey could have ended at the slaughterhouse like so many other horses in the American West. But thanks to a deleted post and a very well-timed Facebook scroll sesh, he's now free to enjoy the rest of his days in peace. Read on to get all the details of his rescue!
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Our Sanctuary Director, Andrea, keeps an eye on various Facebook groups in the region that have nothing to do with animal welfare. Why? Jonas' story is the perfect example.
In one group near Billings, folks post their horses for sale or announce they're sending to auction. One poster offered their 'services' for anyone who 'needs a horse gone'. That post was deleted quickly, but Andrea noticed someone had commented wanting to take them up on the offer. Andrea reached out and made sure that the woman knew that the post was talking about slaughter. The woman responded that she could no longer afford to feed this horse, but was willing to give him to Andrea. Andrea immediately accepted.
So, a week later, Jonas arrived at the sanctuary! He's got Cushing's disease (which means he's quite skinny right now) and arrived with cancer in one of his eyes. The woman who had him before confirmed his eye had been like that for at least the 8 months she'd had him.
We had our vet remove his eye (half of it was tumor, poor kid), and now he's a brand new horse. He's much more relaxed and will allow us to approach the right side of his head, unlike before.
Jonas joined fellow equines Ruby, Magnus, and Maddie in the special needs barnyard, where he's getting meds for his Cushing's. He follows Andrea around everywhere 'like a giant puppy'. We can't wait to see how his personality continues to shine as he settles in.
