Ron King, 51, is living the high life as a media executive for prestigious fashion magazines. Ron worked with publications like InStyle, Essence and Sunset before a corporate restructuring left him without a job.
King has a large pension and time package, but he’s not sure what to do with it. He knew he needed to find something else to focus his life on and make time for it, but he didn’t have a clear path outlined after being laid off from the company.
Based on MSNRon came across an article about donkeys being slaughtered for the collagen used in ejiao traditional medicine, causing the donkey population to plummet.
At the same time, Ron sees a woman’s TikTok trying to round up a donkey sanctuary but with no luck. Thinking about both stories, Ron has a new idea for his life: He will find a way to open a donkey sanctuary and save the slaughtered donkeys.
Ron started looking for the perfect place to start building his sanctuary, and that’s when he heard that his friend, Phil Selway, had bought in bulk to start a sanctuary!
Phil has a 75-acre plot in Southern California that he hopes will turn into an animal sanctuary, but things don’t go as planned. Together, Ron and Phil decided to use the land to open Oscar’s Place Sanctuary & Adoption Center, a non-profit organization that rescues donkeys from slaughter and restores them to health.
“Perhaps the universe is trying to tell me something. This place is gorgeous and just for animals,” said Ron, theo MSN.
The donkeys they rescue are either placed in loving permanent homes or provided with a shelter at the sanctuary for the rest of their lives.
In an interview with Mercury News“My mind is a snowball, constantly shaking,” said Ron. I love my job, traveling, going to fashion shows, but this is the first time I feel at peace. And for the first time, I realized I really wanted it.”
Within a year of the sanctuary’s opening, Oscar’s Place had rescued about 55 donkeys! Six of the donkeys are permanent residents, and more than 20 have been adopted into new families.
Phil has to occasionally support the sanctuary with checks, but they hope to be fully self-sufficient by 2022. They charge $1,000 to adopt a donkey or $1,800 for two. Since their focus is on helping their donkeys stay healthy and happy, they will not separate mother and child or any two animals that are attached to each other.
Talk to Mercury NewsRon said, “I promise the donkeys. I promise them a good life, whether it’s with someone else or here with us. They earned it. ”
You can find out about Oscar’s Place on their website here or by their visit Facebook page.
