Charger’s Story
In the fall of 2016, Rowdy Girl Sanctuary received an email from a woman about a steer named Charger. Charger is a beautiful Charolais who had been abandoned by an FFA student before it was time to show him in the local FFA chapter’s school event. The email truly pulled at the founder Renee’s heartstrings. The student’s mother described Charger as a “teddy bear” who loved attention, and it seemed that, out of all the steers in his class, Charger was a favorite.
The sanctuary is a busy place, home at the time to more than 80 farm animals, with an immense workload both in and out of the office. Most days, emails or messages come in about farm animals in need. While it’s impossible to take in all of them, the sanctuary always does its best to utilize resources to help animals in distress. Charger’s silent voice was carried through Nichole, the mother of the senior who had packed up and moved to Idaho a few weeks prior.
The email regarding Charger was not marked as urgent. The sanctuary prioritizes animal rescue leads based on urgency so that those in the most distress get attention first. After 48 hours, the founder contacted Nichole, only to learn that she had changed her mind and decided to let Charger go through the process of being loaded up and sold at auction. This prompted the founder to go into full mission mode to talk her down from that decision.
Something inside the founder activated when faced with a situation where there seemed to be more to the story. It seemed there was a disconnect between what Nichole had initially shared and what she was now saying. The founder asked Nichole point-blank what had changed and whether Charger was still the same “teddy bear” that everyone loved. Nichole confessed that she didn’t know what else to do—the school was pressuring her to make a move. She owed the school $1,700 because Charger was acquired in a calf scramble, and she felt bound by their rules. Those rules force families into situations where the animal’s life is seen as a commodity—valued only for how much money, prestige, and career advancement it can provide. Once the animal has served its purpose, it goes through the food chain, teaching children the harsh lesson of “letting go” and feeling proud to contribute to the world’s food supply.
On the other end of the phone, Renee could hear a woman who felt she had no choice. She sensed the corner Nichole was backed into and intuitively knew what had to be done. Offering up various scenarios to rescue Charger, Renee and Nichole engaged in a difficult conversation that led to a breakthrough. Nichole began to understand the harsh truths about the consequences she faced as part of a program designed to suppress human emotion at the expense of a sentient being’s life. Together, they forged a path that led Charger to Rowdy Girl Sanctuary and Nichole to embrace veganism.
There are no words to express Renee’s feelings when another soul decides to plunge into the compassionate world of veganism. Charger’s life was saved, but Nichole’s life was also transformed. She will go on to be a shining example, and one person at a time, we can achieve the impossible.
Rowdy Girl Sanctuary is grateful to everyone who contributed to the effort to get Charger to the sanctuary.
