Rowdy Girl Sanctuary
What do you think the Rowdy Girl Sanctuary is?
You’re wrong.
It sounds like a protected shelter for women of less than stellar reputation, right? At least that’s what I thought, but I’m an old white guy and my perception is tainted.
Hint: It isn’t that.
Here’s what its website (rowdygirlsanctuary.org) says:
“Located in the heart of cattle ranching country just outside of Austin (it’s moved since that was written), our sanctuary treats animals as friends and family, not food. Each and every one of our 130 farm animals has a name, a story and a unique personality. They were all destined to become food or were deemed inconvenient to keep. At Rowdy Girl Sanctuary, all enjoy the freedom and love they deserve.”
Wow! Without even going into the obvious expense of what that involves, the labor and commitment have to be world class.
Here’s what unchainedtv.com says about the place:
Former country singer Renee King married Tommy Sonnen, a multi-generational cattle rancher. She liked to practice her guitar in the meadow where the herd of cows grazed.
“It was there that Renee had a spiritual experience and realized the cows were her family and she was there to love and protect them, not kill and eat them.”
It all came about one day in 2014, plantbasednews.org says. “She watched Dr. Melanie Joy’s video on carnism, and for the first time saw a plate of meat as chopped up dead animals. ‘I went vegan on that very day,’ she said.”
She became Vegan and raised the money to buy out her husband’s herd and turned their ranch into a Vegan-farmed animal sanctuary.
Even more impressive, “she turned her husband … Vegan and now he is also a leading animal rights activist who helps Renee care for cows, pigs, turkeys, goats, lambs and chickens rescued from the horrors of industrialized animal agriculture.” Wow!
Did I say Wow!? I did, didn’t I?
Full disclosure: I’m Vegan. So there. This is still wow-able.
Renee and friends. Photo from mydreamforanimals.com
Originally located just outside Austin, the region’s terrible flooding history forced a move to a new location. It’s now in Angleton southwest of Houston. Still same premise.
Current population includes Herman the Miracle Pig.
In the beginning, back at the original ranch outside Austin, Renee was encouraged to purchase a cow of her own to get acclimated to cattle ranching. Big mistake for the industry.
“She purchased an orphaned calf to raise,” mydreamforanimals.com says. “The first time Renee saw the rambunctious, scrawny black calf she immediately named her Rowdy Girl.”
They bonded there on the spot.
Next came twice a day bottle feeding _ for months.
Suddenly there were the realities of the cattle business.
Weepy interlude: Next came the realization of what happened to the calves born on the ranch:
“A red trailer would be positioned in the middle of the pasture, with sweet grain set in place to lure the young calves inside. Once the trailer was full the metal door would be shut, locking them in.”
(Narrator: You may assume it was with a dramatic CLANG!)
They would then be hauled down the road.
“The mother cows would chase the red trailer, crying out for their young while the calves tried to escape” (mydreamforanimals.com).
OK, I’m guilty of playing on the heartstrings here. Sue me. As I said, I’m Vegan, get used to it. If you want to offer a rebuttal, I’ll consider it (muffled snort. There is a comment section and you can vent there unless I don’t like it, in which case I’ll knock it off).
Renee and, could it be? Herman the Miracle Pig? Could be. Photo from mydreamforanimals.com
More from mydreamforanimals.com:
“It took five and half years for Renee to take a stand against the red trailer pulling away with another group of calves.
“She was faced with a flood of emotions: She loved her husband but was ethically opposing the slaughter of the cows.
“She didn’t have resources to turn to in Texas, so she began blogging on Facebook, creating the VEGAN Journal of a Ranchers Wife.”
Two things: Money came in, and husband Tommy turned out to be a pretty good Dude.
She offered to buy the cows from him, a bit of a gamble. Market value on the herd was $50,000-60,000.
Guess what? Tommy told her that if she could figure out a way to buy them, he would sell the herd for $30,000. (Did he perhaps think she’d never be able to? Nah).
Boom! The idea of Rowdy Girl Sanctuary was born and for Renee there was no looking back. And now Tommy had become a Vegan himself. OK, I realize veganis not a proper noun. Don’t care.
There’s even a documentary about all this. None other than Vogue Magazine noted it, in an article by Erik Morse (Vogue.com):
“In the opening minutes of Rowdy Girl, Jason Goldman’s debut documentary, the director captures sunrise on a Texas farm where various animals nap, munch, or amble on verdant, windswept pastures.
“Inside the farmhouse’s kitchen a middle-aged woman in a well-worn robe and silvery, tousled hair … feeds a turkey that has wandered into the house while a dog and cat look on curiously.
“’It’s a beautiful day, Sealey,’ she proclaims to the turkey, which she carries outside into the matutinal light and places gingerly into a corral.” (Come on, Vogue, matutinal? Give me a break. Even I had to look that up, and I deal with words. I’ll wager not five of your subscribers knew it had to do with morning active biological times.) “Then she kneels to feed a reposing heifer before massaging the cow’s haunches. ‘I’m so glad we’re here for you,’ the woman whispers.” Reposing heifer… haunches. Got it!
It’s Vogue, OK? Calm down.
“For [Tommy] Sonnen, ranching was a profession that went back generations in his family. It’s a proud tradition as ever-present in rural Texas as John Deere caps, Ford pickup trucks, and Whataburger restaurants _ all brands that have long capitalized on the pervasiveness of the farming business.”
Please remember this was written by some dude, probably from Santa Monica, for some audience in New Hampshire or the likes, just go with the flow, OK? And “pickup trucks” is redundant. Whataburger is not a restaurant.
For her husband, “’It was like the ultimate betrayal,’ Renee said.
“’My husband’s business partner didn’t want anything to do with Tommy anymore. They had been best friends, they were partners, they baled hay together, they bought equipment together. All of these local ranchers were shunning Tommy. Even the feed store _ we’d go to get feed for the animals, and you could tell they were talking about him behind his back.’”
The sanctuary is financed through grants and a variety of fundraisers that educate the community about veganism and help people learn how to befriend farm animals, mydreamforanimals.com says. (See Weird Facts below for more details).
Texas Weird Facts of the Day:
Winken, Blinken and Nod. Photo from rowdygirlsanctuary.org
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Rowdy Girl Sanctuary is a non-profit operation and calls itself the first documented beef cattle ranch in the world to transition to a vegan sanctuary (idealist.org).
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Its annual operating budget is roughly $550,000 to $620,000, Mr. Google says, citing several sources. It’s backed by grants from organizations such as the National Philanthropic Trust, corporate partnerships (All Y’alls Foods, Almond Cow, etc.), and recurring monthly donor tiers ($75 to $200/month). You can become a member here: https://rowdygirlsanctuary.org/membership/. And you can “adopt” one of the critters here: https://rowdygirlsanctuary.org/adopt-an-animal-program/.
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All Y’alls Foods is a Texas-based snack company offering plant-based products with what the company says is “bold, unique Texan-inspired flavors.” Website:
https://allyallsfoods.com/
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Almond Cow makes machines for making plant-based milk. Website:
https://almondcow.co
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(cq) I’m sorry, it makes what?
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The sanctuary’s animals come from donations, rescues from slaughter and bad living conditions. The website has a photo gallery of some of the residents, including a pair of Muscovy Ducks named Thelma and Lou. I am not making this up. See https://rowdygirlsanctuary.org/our-animals/.
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Herman was an 11-year-old pot-bellied pig from a high-kill shelter. He was abandoned when his owner died and the family members never came to pick him up. The sanctuary wasn’t sure how they would be able to adopt him, the sanctuary’s website says, because they were not fully operational at the time and had no real cash flow. But friends on Facebook learned about Herman, they rallied around a GoFundMe campaign that raised $3,500 in just a few days. And thus Herman became The Miracle Pig.
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Carnism is a belief system or ideology that conditions people to eat certain animals, Mr. Google says, citing Wikipedia. “Coined by social psychologist Melanie Joy in 2001, it operates as the dominant opposite of veganism, making meat consumption seem like a given norm rather than a conscious choice.”
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Rowdy Girl is a 2023 documentary about the sanctuary, directed by Jason Goldman and written by Michael Aaglund, Deborah Dickson and Karen Sim. It’s available for streaming on The Roku Channel, Fawesome, Flex and Tubi.
Today’s Question:
How many cattle are in Texas? Answer below:
Notes:
https://rowdygirlsanctuary.org
https://watch.unchainedtv.com/videos/this-is-rowdy-girl-sanctuary
https://mydreamforanimals.com/heroes/renee-king-sonnen-of-rowdy-girl-sanctuary/
https://www.pbs.org/video/rowdy-girl-olfxni
https://www.vogue.com/article/rowdy-girl-documentary
https://reeltimeanimalrescue.com/rowdy-girl-sanctuary-inc/
https://compassionatewomen.org/my-visit-to-rowdy-girl-sanctuary
https://plantbasednews.org/lifestyle/interviews/rowdy-girl-sanctuary/
https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/nature/texas/rowdy-girl-sanctuary-tx
https://rancheradvocacy.org/rowdy-girl-sanctuary/
https://www.rowdygirlfilm.com
And the Answer!
There were 12.2 million head of cattle in Texas in 2025 (tops in the US), which was up 2 percent from the previous year. The growth was in contrast to national figures, which were down 1 percent, the Texas Farm Bureau says. “Ranchers are faced with tough decisions _ retain heifers and rebuild their herds or sell at the higher prices,” said Tracy Tomascik, Texas Farm Bureau associate director of Commodity and Regulatory Activities. “The next few years should bring good opportunities to Texas ranchers, but input costs and drought conditions still remain a concern.” There’s a breakdown of the numbers, by cattle type, here: https://texasfarmbureau.org/texas-cattle-herd-grows-slightly-u-s-numbers-drop/