Madeleine Pickens is the wife of billionaire T. Boone Pickens. She has acted as a philanthropist, often donating to causes involved with animal rights and animal rescue efforts. The Pickenses donated time and money to the Hurricane Katrina animal rescue effort after the storm left hundreds of animals trapped.
In November 2008, Pickens announced that she would be launching a million-acre horse refuge in order to save the lives of over 30,000 wild horses. The refuge is in response to an announcement by the Bureau of Land Management that it intended to reduce the number of wild horses in the open range of the western United States. The horses were being held in confinement facilities where they would have been auctioned off or euthanized. The Bureau agreed to hand over the horses once Pickens owned the land for the proposed refuge.
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Fast Facts
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Wife of billionaire T. Boone Pickens
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Volunteered in rescue effort of animals following Hurricane Katrina
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Offered to purchase one million acres of land for wild horse refuge
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30,000 horses would have been auctioned or euthanized
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Bureau of Land Management agreed to terms as long as she had purchased land
