From Runway to Ranch: Leaving a Media Career to Open a Donkey Sanctuary
Ron King traded in a life in the magazine world for a life rescuing and rehabilitating donkeys destined for slaughter
"Hello, Kate."
"What is it, Leo?"
"Hey there, Pascal."
As Ron King shows me around Oscar's Place Donkey Adoption Center and Sanctuary on a sunny, hot August morning, he greets by name the numerous donkeys we encounter across the dusty pasture at the idyllic 75-acre ranch.
As we enter the area housing pregnant and baby donkeys, King points out Howie, an adorable six-day-old foal taking a nap. King lies down next to him in the dirt for a snuggle. It's a lovely, authentic moment that King doesn't rush. At Oscar's Place, the goal is for the donkeys, including Howie, to be adopted, but some, like Farley, a blind donkey we stop to visit, will live out their lives here due to special needs.
The ranch is two hours north of San Francisco in Mendocino County, California. A long dirt road bordered by vineyards leads to a serene scene of donkeys dotting the landscape. Less than four years ago, King, 55, started with a business plan to rescue donkeys. Since then, he has created a thriving non-profit organization with 11 employees and 140 volunteers who tend to more than 150 donkeys, many recovering from past physical and emotional trauma. To date, 131 have been adopted by people screened, visited and approved by Oscar's Place staff.
Saving Donkeys from Slaughter
King, a former Time Inc. senior vice president overseeing several magazines including InStyle and Southern Living, once mingled with A-list celebrities, had weekly manicures in his office and sat in the front row at Milan fashion shows. These days he's surrounded by donkeys, has dirt under his nails and goes to auctions with a mission of saving donkeys. He does so by outbidding people who buy donkeys for slaughter.
According to the Donkey Sanctuary, a British charity dedicated to the welfare of donkeys worldwide, nearly 6 million donkeys are slaughtered yearly for the collagen in their skins, which is used in the traditional Chinese medicine, ejiao.
"Donkeys are very emotional animals; it's hands-on and very patient work to help a donkey heal emotionally."
Recently, King successfully bid on 33 donkeys at an auction in Texas. While he wishes he could save them all, he focuses on keeping bonded pairs, moms and babies, and best friends together. They often arrive at Oscar's Place with a distrust of humans.
"Donkeys are very emotional animals; it's hands-on and very patient work to help a donkey heal emotionally," says King as he points to Marie, a volunteer working with a donkey named Sally in a nearby pen. "Sally didn't like people. It's Marie coming every day for years, which has taught Sally that people are good.
"They are super smart," continues King, who notes donkeys also come to Oscar's Place from owner surrenders. "Most people believe donkeys are small versions of horses. They're completely different animals. The part of the brain that processes emotion is the limbic system, and the donkey's limbic system is the same size as a human's. It's this emotional capacity that makes them dog-like."
Moving at 'Warp Speed'
After the tour, we grab a couple of weathered wooden chairs in the shade. I ask King how it feels when he looks around at everything he and his team have accomplished – including a healthy social media following of more than 300,000 and a completed reality TV pilot – in such a short time.
"It's funny when people talk about this place, and they use the words peaceful and serene," he says as he scans his surroundings. "It is anything but peaceful and serene to us. It's so stressful and so much work. There's no question that what we've done is incredible. I had a vision, and my superpower is getting (things) done.
"I have a great team of people who support me, and we have great donors who trust me with their money to do all of this, but we have moved at warp speed," he continues. "Many nonprofits fail in their first three years. Not only was I committed to making it work, but I was committed to building something that would last for a long time. I'm 55, so we had to get moving."
"I have a great team of people who support me, and we have great donors who trust me with their money to do all of this."
Soon, we're joined by Kenneth Glentzer, head of animals. It's not too long before an older donkey named Barnaby saunters over for a bit of attention, leaning his head over Glentzer's right shoulder. Glentzer is leaving the ranch next year to do some traveling. He'll take the lessons he's learned here with him.
"Ron taught me you can be compassionate and do right by people without putting yourself in a position where they're going to walk all over you," he says while gently scratching Barnaby's face, who sadly died in late August at age 39. "You can set boundaries and be very clear about to what extent this grace is extended while still extending grace to someone."
In 2018, Meredith Corporation bought Time Inc., and King was laid off from his media job. When COVID hit, he was temporally living on the ranch, which he was helping sell for the owner and his friend, Phil Selway. During this time, King was doing some soul searching thanks to the urging of his close friend Evelyn Webster, SoulCycle CEO. Over the years, she's challenged him to figure out what brings him joy.
Enjoyment and Joy Are Different
"I found that to be very annoying because I was like, 'Evelyn, I have joy everywhere,'" he says. "I wear Gucci every day, fly first class, and drive a Mercedes AMG.' Only after I came here to sell this place for Phil was my life quiet enough for me to slow down. I started thinking about joy and why she was so persistent about this. I realized I enjoy driving a Mercedes and wearing Gucci. I'm not taking away from those things – I don't think it's shallow. But enjoyment and joy are two different things. I was 51 when I realized things I enjoy and things that bring me joy are different."
Then, one day at the ranch, he was scrolling TikTok while lying by the pool when he saw a video of a woman trying to save donkeys from slaughter which led him to researching the plight of donkeys. He was horrified by what he saw. Then, he says, the puzzle pieces came together.
He knew how to run a business, and he also knew Selway, a pop art dealer and philanthropist, wanted to leave a legacy of helping animals. So, he proposed a plan to Selway to turn the sprawling ranch into a donkey sanctuary. "I wrote a business plan and he approved it," says King. "We got launch funding, and we launched three weeks later."
They named it Oscar's Place, an homage to a beloved cat of Selway's that had passed away.
Starting a New Chapter
These days, King is up by 4 a.m. to get started on administrative tasks. He says his day is unmanageable once the sun rises and the text chains start buzzing. However, he always makes time for a visit with his best friend, a salt-and-pepper-colored donkey named Viejo.
"I talk to him about what's going on in my day," says King. "He puts his head on my shoulder. We're all on different redemption paths, and I think donkeys help us get there.
"I knew before that I was pretty good at what I did, but the fact that I could transfer those skills and save donkeys and run a ranch is pretty remarkable," he says. "I've also learned that I have a larger capacity for compassion than I gave myself credit for. I'm not the type of person who is there for everybody. I've learned that it's okay to have a small tribe, and I'm there for them. My heart and compassion are huge for these animals and for these people."
If he had discovered donkey rescuing when he was in his early 20s, like Glentzer, King said he wouldn't have been open to it because, at that time, he was addicted to alcohol and drugs. Through all the ups and downs, he says he's happy with the life he's lived because all of those experiences have made him who he is today.
'Joy Is Just Around the Corner'
"I want everyone to find joy; that's what this is all about," he says. "You can start a new chapter whenever you want to. I think for people over 50, it can be difficult to realize that. This is a completely new chapter for me, and it was hard. Joy is just around the corner, and it doesn't always look how you think it will. When I was 51 years old, I had never met a donkey. Now I have a TV show about me saving donkeys."
With a plethora of responsibilities – saving donkeys, promoting Oscar's Place, supporting his team – one might expect King's mind to be racing with thoughts at bedtime.
"What keeps me up at night?" asks King. "Nothing keeps me up. I'm so tired at the end of the day; I sleep really well."
