An Urgent Call to Action in Her Honor

April 3, 1934 – October 1, 2025

Let’s honor her life and memory with action.

Tribute written by Susan Wagner

It is hard to put into words the enormous debt of gratitude to which we owe Jane Goodall. Her scientific discoveries about chimps are legendary and have forever changed the way these animals are regarded and studied. She focused not only on their behaviors but also on their intelligence. She made the world and fellow scientists see them for the sentient beings they are and why they, and every species of animal, deserve our respect to live and exist on this planet. Her work and towering achievements are well known. There is no doubt that she was, and will continue to be, a major source of inspiration to millions of people about the importance of dedicating one’s life to preserving animals and the world which we, as humans, share with them.

As a pioneer, Dr. Goodall blazed not one, but numerous new paths, which made it possible for countless others to follow their dreams. On a very personal note, I can say that reading and learning about her work growing up had a tremendous impact on me. She helped give me the confidence to start an organization dedicated to saving and rescuing horses. As part of the Jane Goodall Institute, she founded “Roots and Shoots,” the youth-oriented program to motivate and inspire young people to effect positive change for animals and the planet. Like countless other humane organizations across the globe, we at Equine Advocates share the strong belief that education is the key to everything. Our Humane Education Program, created to inspire young students to be proactive in reporting incidents of animal cruelty and the need to protect wild and domestic equines, was influenced by Dr. Goodall’s work to expand awareness and humane education.

In her vast writings and interviews, Dr. Goodall called for the need to protect the world’s wild animals and their habitats. Truer words could not have been spoken! In the United States right now, unless drastic steps are taken, this government has plans to kill off and destroy all of the remaining Wild Horses and Burros living on America’s precious Public Lands. This includes the more than 70,000 who, over time, were cruelly and unnecessarily rounded up and held captive in government pens. We have good reason to fear that those captive animals could all be sent to slaughter through a variety of government agencies. Getting rid of these animals is being driven by industries that want them gone forever so that the tens of millions of acres of their natural habitats on America’s Public Lands – which they share with 3,000 species of other animals, some of whom are endangered – can be ranched, drilled, fracked, mined, and developed in the name of greed and financial gain.

I think Jane Goodall would want all of us to channel her example and boundless energy right now and DO SOMETHING NOW before it is too late.

It is fitting, as we reflect on Jane Goodall’s work and her legacy, that we continue down those vital paths that she blazed to protect all creatures great and small, and the earth we inhabit together. For that reason, I believe she would want and encourage a Call to Action to be part of this tribute to her.

Let’s get to work. There are Wild Horses and Burros in America who need saving.