Original Article: https://blog.theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.com/executive-rescues-donkeys/

51-year-old Ron King was living the high life as a media executive for high-profile fashion magazines. Ron worked with publications like InStyle, Essence, and Sunset before a corporate restructuring left him without a job.

King had a large severance package and time on his hands, but he wasn’t sure what to do with it. He knew he needed to find something else to focus his life on and dedicate his time to, but he didn’t have a clear path laid out after being let go from his corporate job.

According to MSN, Ron happened to read an article about donkeys being slaughtered for collagen that’s used in traditional ejiao medicicine, causing a sharp decline in donkey populations.

Around the same time, Ron saw a TikTok of a woman who was trying to fin da donkey sanctuary but wasn’t having any luck. Thinking about both stories, Ron came up with a new idea for his life: He’d find a way to open a donkey sanctuary and save donkeys headed to slaughter.

Ron began searching for the perfect place to start his sanctuary, and that’s when heard that his friend, Phil Selway, had purchased a large lot to start a sanctuary on!

Phil had a 75-acre plot of land in Southern California that he was hoping to turn into an animal sanctuary, but things weren’t going as planned. Together, Ron and Phil decided to use the land to open Oscar’s Place Adoption Center & Sanctuary, a nonprofit that rescues donkeys from slaughter and nurses them back to health.

“Maybe the universe was trying to tell me something. This place is gorgeous and just made for animals,” Ron said, according to MSN.

The donkeys that they rescue are either placed into loving forever homes or provided a home at the sanctuary for the rest of their lives.

In an interview with Mercury News, Ron said: “My mind was a snow globe, constantly being shaken. I loved my career, traveling, going to fashion shows, but here is the first time I’ve felt serenity. And for the first time, I realized I desperately wanted it.”

Within a year of opening the sanctuary, Oscar’s Place had already rescued around 55 donkeys! Six of the donkeys were permanent residents, and over 20 were adopted out to new families.

Phil occasionally has to support the sanctuary with a check, but they’re hoping to be completely self-sufficient by 2022. They charge $1,000 to adopt a donkey or $1,800 for two. Because their focus is on supporting donkeys to be healthy and happy, they won’t separate moms and babies or any two animals who are bonded to one another.

Speaking with Mercury News, Ron said, “I make a promise to the donkeys. I promise them a good life, whether it’s with someone else or here with us. They’ve earned it.”

You can learn about Oscar’s Place on their website here or by visiting their Facebook page.

Source: The Animal Rescue Site Blog