Ron King, co-founder of Oscar’s Place—a California-based nonprofit which rescues, rehabilitates, and rehomes donkeys—discusses not being an animal fan earlier in his life, but having transformed into a veritable donkey zealot, a point underscored by King nuzzling a pair of donkeys: 5-day-old Sherlock and his Mom, Maisy. 
Tranformation of lives—or, maybe more precisely, reinvented lives—is an essential
motif of the Oscar’s Place saga. As the operation’s major domo, King routinely reinvents the lives of unfortunate donkeys that have been neglected, mistreated, or on a path to an auction house in Bowie, Texas (and likely eventual slaughter)—swooping in, plucking them out, and depositing them at Oscar’s Place. In just over five years since he launched the operation, King has helped rescue the better part of 500 donkeys, and re-homed 200. But King was only able to reinvent these donkeys’ lives because of the way he reinvented his own life. He recalls working as a high-flying media/magazine maven—running several publications, including InStyle, flying first class to Italian fashion shows (and everywhere else), living a big, glossy life. But then, through a
confluence of factors (King cited leaving his job, a little too confident he could land a
comparable one; the shifting media landscape; COVID) that whole fabulous scenario unraveled. Unclear how to proceed, King happened to see a TikTok that revealed that up to five million donkeys are slaughtered every year, chiefly for their hides. Deeply affected by the TikTok, while continuing to re-assess his next move, his professional pondering helped King realize that his most satisfying moments of joy resulted when he had the most impact. A close friend and champion of King (and experiencing true joy) happened to have a big piece of land in Hopland, CA, suitable to serve as an animal sanctuary. I think you see where this is headed. Right, it wasn’t too long before Oscar’s Place was born. At this point, Oscar’s Place collectively refers to two facilities: The ranch in Hopland constitutes the main headquarters, housing about 160 donkeys, and a sister sanctuary in nearby Potter Valley, where another 60 reside. A wide array of action at Hopland is captured in “Donkey King,” a 17-episode reality TV series—it’s immensely entertaining, illuminating and periodically-poignant. I learned a lot about 
donkeys’ emotional complexity, and how their ears or lips might move to signal how they’re feeling at that moment. King and assorted donkeys
occupy the center of the show, rounded out by some donkey owners who need help (some have decided to surrender their animals), and various Oscar’s Place staff, including Kenneth, a young, preternaturally-gifted donkey whisperer. (You can access the TV series here: https://www.oscarsplace.org/donkey-king ) A core element of the Oscar’s Place operation involves King making regular trips to the livestock auction in Bowie, Texas, and outbidding as many “kill buyers” as his budget allows for that day’s available donkeys. Ordinarily, those donkeys are then trailered to Hopland to begin their reinvented lives. However, King explains, they realized this practice was spreading—or causing—illness amongst some of those traveling donkeys. The solution: the first-ever donkey hospital, in Collinsville, Texas, where the donkeys secured at the auction will be examined and treated, if necessary. And then, with a clean bill of health, they’ll be transported to Hopland. The hospital is slated to open Sept. 5, 2026, King says—named after Dr. Kate Schoenhals, the Oscar’s Place full-time, on-site veterinarian– with the first herd of patients due to arrive Sept. 6.
Here’s (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVX40LtiuVM) the YouTube clip of the interview, though there’s no video of the Duncan side of the conversation. But the other side features video of Ron King, and donkeys Maisy and her then 5-day-old baby, Sherlock.
ALSO: I spoke with Racheli Holstein, Campaigns Logistics Organizer for PETA, who filled me in on the current status of Loomis Bros. Circus–and especially, Okha, Loomis’s elderly, morbidly obese, and otherwise long mistreated elephant. This conversation was pegged to Loomis concluding a brief Tampa engagement with two performances that day at the Florida State Fairgrounds, and PETA having organized protests at both shows, with the primary purpose to urge Loomis to retire Okha. (I’d held a similar conversation about a month earlier with Laura Weiss, of Florida Voices for Animals, connected to Loomis’s gig in Sarasota, which also featured Okha-oriented protests.) One of the points Holstein and I emphasized is that two other Loomis elephants, that had been forced to perform and give rides, were removed from the Circus, but curiously, Okha remains. Why can’t she be retired?
COMEDY CORNER: Robert G. Lee’s “Dog & Cat” (https://www.robertglee.com/)
MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” instrumentals
NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: We didn’t play “Name That Animal Tune” today.
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