Crusading to Save Horses, Shannen Doherty Says ‘We Have To Speak For The Voiceless’

The video clip, posted to Doherty’s Instagram page and originally shared by the non profit organization Horses In Our Hands, shows the animal lover saying, “Each year, thousands of horses are shipped off to slaughter. It’s an unbelievably inhumane slaughter.

“We don’t eat horse meat here in America, but people do dump their horses off so that they can go to Japan and Mexico and Canada. And they are often shipped without water, without food, and then slaughtered inhumanely.”

She continued, “Horses are sentiment beings. They love. They feel. Our personal horses, our pets, get such emotional attachments to us as we do to them. Our American wild horses. I mean, there’s poems written about the American wild horse. There’s books, there’s movies.

“When people think about American, they think about the cowboy. They think about the roundups. It’s just … and yet we’re not protecting them. Instead, we have government agencies that are rounding up our wild mustangs, our wild horses … putting them in pens, breaking them from their families, from their band. Fools, babies, they are rounding up. And they go to auction and kill buyers buy them. And these beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, once wild, once free sentient beings are then shipped off and brutally dismembered for human consumption.”

“I believe we’re at the point where we have to be responsible. We have to speak for the voiceless. We have to be their voices. The SAFE Act will do that,” Doherty said, before urging her followers to do anything they can in their efforts to reach out to legislators and fight for the cause.

RELATED: ‘Tennessee Girls’: Shannen Doherty, 52, Spends Quality Time With ‘Mama Rosa’ Outdoors Amid Advanced Breast Cancer Battle— The Healing Power of Nature

Doherty also urged her fans to “do it for me” before telling them how her passion for horses began when she started riding when she was a kid.

She recounted when she auditioned for a 1985 American television miniseries called “Robert Kennedy and His Times,” and how she was asked if she rode horses and could jump, to which she responded, “Yes, just tell me how high.”

But she admitted that when she got the job she didn’t actually know how to ride a horse, so she leased a horse named Joey and learned how to ride.

“That horse became my best friend. I loved grooming him. I loved spending time. I would just walk with him and it was great. And then I just kept that going,” she added, noting how she’s had horses that have grown old and she doesn’t sell them off, but instead, puts them out to pasture, “where they are watched and vets come, and I care for them.”

Referring to another horse she had named Picasso, Doherty said he passed away from old age and had a “wonderful life” with her.

RELATED: Shannen Doherty Says Her Dog Detected Her Breast Cancer Before She Was Diagnosed; Is This Actually Possible?

She concluded, “All horses deserve that life and all wild horses deserve to be wild. … Lets have the horses have their land and more importantly, lets stop shipping horses off for slaughter in foreign countries.

The Horses In Our Hands’ post reminds everyone to take action for this cause by using the link on their Instagram page to “send a letter urging your members of Congress to support the bipartisan SAFE Act -Save America’s Forgotten Equines Act (H.R. 3475 / S. 2037).”

The SAFE Act will “permanently ban horse slaughter in the United States” as U.S. Slaughter House inspecting has been defunded yearly by Congress since 2007.

Additionally, the act will “permanently ban the export of American horses to other countries for slaughter.”

In an earlier Instagram post, Doherty’s love for horses can be seen a photo she shared of a horse and an open grass field, writing alongside it, “Off the grid. Horses. Cattle. My soul is starting to feel rejuvenated again.

“Back when I’m back.. #mountainlife #ranchlife #nocellexceptforonemountaintop which I’ll avoid for rest of time here.”

In another photo shared on her Instagram page, Doherty is seen offering a carrot to a beautiful horse … and it’s the sweetest thing. We’re delighted to see her pushing forward and being the voice for the voiceless.

RELATED: Shannen Doherty Stands Up For Fallen NYC Horse: ‘Please Stop Participating In This!’

Animals and Healing

It is often said that animals improve our quality of life, and that can especially be true for people battling cancer like Doherty. Though she has always been an advocate, her passion for animals gives her something to focus on and put her heart into each and every day.

What Are the Benefits of Pet Therapy?

We often need to keep going, and there have been studies showing the power of passion of positivity affecting the outcome of your disease. What still brings you joy? It’s important to do things to feed your emotional health just as much as your physical. For Doherty, it usually involves furry friends, but she also enjoys hanging out with other humans.

It’s important to remember that life doesn’t slow down for a cancer diagnosis, but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. In fact, our experts say that prioritizing your overall wellbeing and continuing to do the things you love, like how Doherty continues to save animals, can be very beneficial.

Do What You Love — Even if Cancer Gets in the Way of Your Dreams

Dr. Geoffrey Oxnard, a thoracic oncologist, previously shared to SurvivorNet the three things he tells his lung cancer patients about living with the disease:

• Don’t act sick “You can’t mope around,” he said. “Do things, and in doing things, you will stay active.”
• Don’t lose weight “Eat what you need to do to not lose weight,” he said. “I like my patients pleasantly plump.”
• Don’t be a tough guy “When you’ve got lung cancer, you need work with your doctor to keep your medical conditions under control.”

Rules For Living With Cancer

Shannen Doherty’s Cancer Battle

Shannen Doherty was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 after she discovered a lump in her breast. For treatments the first time around, she underwent hormone therapy, a single mastectomy (the removal of all breast tissue from one breast), chemotherapy and radiation.

Sometimes Bad Things Happen — Enjoying Life, Even With Cancer

Then in 2017, Doherty was deemed to be in remission, however, the cancer returned just two years later in 2019 as metastatic, or stage four, breast cancer.

This time, the cancer had spread to other parts of her body making it a metastatic, or stage four, cancer diagnosis.

Doherty’s breast cancer has since spread to her brain causing her to undergo surgery to remove a tumor in her brain, but despite her health struggles she hasn’t lost hope and she always makes time for friends and family.

There is technically no cure for metastatic breast cancer, but that doesn’t mean people can’t live good, long lives with this stage of disease, thanks to hormone therapy, chemotherapy, targeted drugs and immunotherapy, as well as a combination of treatments.

RELATED: Shannen Doherty’s Cancer Has Spread to Her Brain: Brave Actress Shows Unwavering Strength Amid Stage 4 Breast Cancer

Doherty took to Instagram earlier this year to recap how her cancer fight is going. She underwent her first round of radiation to her head on Jan. 12, 2023, followed by brain surgery to remove and biopsy a tumor on Jan. 16, 2023. The surgery she underwent is called a craniotomy.

Several neurosurgeons tell SurvivorNet that the procedure can allow patients with cancer in their brain to live longer, more vibrant lives, and this appears to be the case with Doherty.

Understanding Stage 4 (Metastatic) Breast Cancer

Stage 4, or metastatic breast cancer, means that the cancer has spread to distant areas of the body. Even though there is currently no cure for metastatic breast cancer, doctors have many options to treat this stage advanced stage of breast cancer. Shannen Doherty is a prime example as to how people can lead happy lives despite battling disease.

Hormone therapy, chemotherapy and targeted drugs are all options to talk to her doctor about, depending on your individual needs. Sometimes surgery and/or radiation is considered as part of the treatment, but mainly it is important to focus on improving your quality of life.

The treatment plan for metastatic breast cancer patients depends on the specific needs of the woman, whether they need an aggressive chemotherapy or depending on the doctor’s assessment, they may benefit from another medication.

For hormone receptive positive cancer breast cancer patients, doctors try to see how long they can keep patients on oral therapies. Very often, newly diagnosed metastatic hormone receptive-positive breast cancers (where cells have either estrogen (ER) or progesterone (PR) receptors or both) respond best with different hormonal medications, and sometimes for many many years.

Treating Metastatic Breast Cancer

Dr. Erica Mayer, a medical oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, says clinical trials have shown that hormone medicines are more effective when paired with targeted therapies. At some point, chemotherapy will be introduced. And according to Dr. Mayer, it’s delivered at a dose and schedule that’s as well-tolerated as possible.

“We are so lucky in breast cancer that we have so many effective and well-tolerated treatments,” Dr. Mayer tells SurvivorNet. I’m so gratified to see that patients are doing better and living longer today with metastatic breast cancer than they have ever done before.”

Do You Have HER2-Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer? Here’s A Breakdown Of Some Of Your Treatment Options

Bottom line, there are more and more options becoming available for patients to manage symptoms of advanced stage disease, and it’s best to talk about specific treatment plans and what is best for you with your own doctor.

Helping Animals & Starting Over After a Life Changing Event

How To Start Over After a Life-Changing Event

As Shannen Doherty continues to be empathetic and kind toward animals during her cancer battle, it’s important to be aware that starting over is arduous, but it can be done. Here’s how:

1. Examine your thoughts. Take time to reflect on the tragedy or difficulty you are facing. Dr. Scott Irwin tells SurvivorNet that, often, people with cancer and chronic disease are “grieving the change in their life, the future they had imagined is now different.”
2. Seek help. Irwin, who directs Supportive Care Services at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, adds that talk therapy can help people significantly: “It’s about meeting the individual patient where they are and their feelings, how they’ve always dealt with their body image, what the body image changes mean now in their lives and their relationships, and how they can move forward given the new reality.
3. Realize that you are not the first. Study the lives of other people who have faced similar difficulties. Dr. Samantha Boardman tells SurvivorNet, “Having support we know is really critical in the healing process.” She adds there is also a benefit in “talking to those who’ve, you know, been through this process, who are maybe a couple of steps ahead of you, who can tell you what it’s like to walk in their shoes and the unbelievable wisdom that one can gain from speaking to them.”
4. Visualize the future. Imagine what it will look like for you to start over. Many people find it very helpful to create a vision board. Cut out pictures or quotes or mementos that give you a concrete picture of your future. Look to it when you are feeling down or in need of a lift. The good news? It works.

Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff

Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.

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