About the Sanctuary

February 20th is the day we became an official 501(c)3 non-profit corporation. You can find a link on this page to view it.

Rowdy Girl Sanctuary is the first documented beef cattle ranch conversion to a vegan sanctuary in the history of Texas, the United States and possibly the world. Since our transition, others have followed suit.

A dairy farm is all about producing milk. They do this by artificial insemination or what are called “rape racks.” Dairy cows are impregnated repeatedly so that they can birth calves and thus produce milk. The calves are taken away days after their birth and sold for veal production or to ranches to be used as breeders. A cow/calf beef cattle ranch, like a typical small cattle ranch in Texas, grazes cattle with a fertile bull that impregnates the cows naturally. The cows have babies, and the babies are with their mothers for approximately 6 to 9 months. Then the babies are sold in auctions to the highest bidder to be fattened up in feed lots or used as breeders on other small ranches. That is the basic difference. We are not and have never operated as a dairy farm.

In the time since this story began, Tommy Sonnen underwent an enormous transformation. The once meat-eating, full-time cattle rancher is now a vegan. He’s a full-time volunteer, caring for all of the animals he previously owned, and sold to his wife, Renee, who in turn made them the first residents of Rowdy Girl Sanctuary. She established the nonprofit organization to put an end to the buying and selling of livestock as a business. The cows once bound for slaughter were spared.

Tommy had previously bought the 96-acre former beef cattle ranch as a supplement to his retirement after a 40-year career at Dow Chemical. He bought the land with the cows on it so that he could retire early and generate income. Renee’s decision to go vegan changed Tommy’s plans for a retirement portfolio completely. Tommy walked away from his plans and dreams for himself and the ranch; and supported his wife in the pursuit of a vegan sanctuary. This was an enormous change of heart for a beef cattle rancher who had previously viewed these animals entirely as a commodity. He now sees and treats them as individuals and is relieved that he no longer has to sell them. Seeing them live out their lives free from exploitation is a gift he could never have imagined before.

Now that the animals Tommy formerly owned are safe at Rowdy Girl Sanctuary, he will devote his life to caring for them. Tommy’s shift is a beautiful part of the Rowdy Girl Sanctuary story. The animals Tommy once owned are now part of our mission to provide loving, lifelong care for all the animals in the sanctuary.

NO – absolutely not.  Breeding implies that we are deliberately impregnating the cows to sell their babies.  That is what “breeders” do. They deliberately breed and sell the offspring for commercial profit. We are not doing that. We are a vegan sanctuary, and breeding is not consistent with our vegan ethics and our mission.  We do not sell our animals nor are we breeding for the “fun” of it. We have sterilized all the males.  As a cow/calf operation we operated with only one bull that we kept – the rest were always females. All bull calves and baby heifers were sold at market. The breeding occurred with one bull.

Converting a cow/calf beef cattle ranch operation into a 100% sterile herd AND becoming a vegan sanctuary is unheard of.  The cows that were saved from slaughter along with their juvenile children are a miracle and the last of the original Rowdy Girl herd. They would have all been slaughtered.  And, it should come as no surprise that some of the cows saved by Renee were pregnant. On Oct 31, 2014 (the day she went vegan) and May 2, 2015 (the day she raised the rest of the money to buy the herd). The herd she bought had babies. That is not breeding – it is life!  Those children will never go to slaughter. They are saved and will not be sold to be fattened up in a feedlot and slaughtered. They get to stay with their families, and our visitors will get to know them in their own familial environment.

If you have questions, always ask us on our website, email or call. We welcome you at the sanctuary anytime.  In the meantime, get to know our Rowdy family – it is the only one like it in the world.

Of course, any time. Call us at 281-684-9101 or email us at renee@rowdygirlsanctuary.org.   Trying to reach us through social media is not always easy to do. We get hundreds of notifications a day but if you call or email, you will receive a response.