COLLINSVILLE
Ron King loves donkeys.
It wasn’t always that way for the Arkansas-born, and partially Fort Worth-raised, former media executive. That is, until he saw a TikTok video six years ago.
King had recently been laid off from his job in print media — where he ran magazines like InStyle and Southern Living — and then COVID hit, sending him further into a tailspin.
By chance, King was served a video of an auction in Bowie, Texas, where donkeys were being sold to be slaughtered for their hide, which is used to make a popular Chinese medicine called ejiao.
King, 57, wasn’t an animal guy, but the way he felt after watching the video shook him awake. In no time, he began writing a business plan to secure funding for a donkey rescue, but then realized that he had never actually interacted with a burro.
Thus, King became the caretaker of three donkeys he still has to this day: Goose, Shadow and Pickles.
“I fell madly in love,” King told the Star-Telegram in late September. “Now we’ve rescued, I think, 496 donkeys in total since we opened five-and-a-half years ago.”
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King opened Oscar’s Place in 2021 and hasn’t looked back.
The initial donkey rescue is located in Hopland, California, and serves as a haven for the animals where they’re nurtured and cared for. In 2025, the nonprofit was gifted a 116-acre property in Potter Valley, California, that is being used as a donkey sanctuary.
A little over a year ago, King hired Dr. Kate Schoenhals as a full-time veterinarian for the California operation, and one of the first things she relayed to him is that he’s rescuing donkeys in Texas and then putting them on a trailer for 32 hours to the Golden State. Sick donkeys are getting sicker, and healthy donkeys are falling ill from being transported together.
King realized it wasn’t good animal husbandry. He needed to do better by the donkeys. Thus, he looked for a facility in Texas where his team could treat and care for them much faster.
He found one in Collinsville, about 70 miles north of Fort Worth, and created the first donkey hospital in the U.S.
“We would buy our donkeys on Sundays at noon, and they would be seen by the doctor for the first time on Tuesday night at 5 p.m.,” King said. “Now we buy them at noon, and they’re seen by a doctor by 2 p.m. [the same day].”
Ron King, the co-founder of Oscar’s Place, spends time with the donkeys being cared for at the Ugo & Elle Sap Center for the Advancement of Donkeys on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026 in Collinsville. Former media executive Ron King was called to action after seeing a TikTok video about the fate of donkeys who are destined for slaughter. Abigail Dollins Fort Worth Star-Telegram Texas sun and Old Man Banks
Oscar’s Place’s Texas facility — The Ugo & Elle Sap Center for the Advancement of Donkeys — opened Sept. 5.
Once donkeys arrive at the facility, King said their first stop is a covered intake arena where they’re processed. Much like a human hospital, the donkey facility has ultrasound and X-ray technology along with a full pharmacy and equipment to run blood tests.
Sick donkeys go to the hospital barn that has 14 stalls with IV hangers, electric outlets and air conditioning, which helps fight lung disease in the harsh Texas climate. Elsewhere in the barn, there’s a pair of isolated rooms for donkeys with highly infectious diseases like salmonella or strangles.
Once donkeys are healthy, they’re moved into the recovery barn, where they split time between there and the pasture. When around a dozen or so donkeys are healthy, they are shipped to California to either be rehomed or live out their days at the sanctuary.
King said the goal is to always move all the donkeys to California once they’re healthy, but one that won’t be making the trip is Old Man Banks.
The 30-year-old donkey had hoof damage and was so malnourished that even the slaughterhouse didn’t bid on him. Old Man Banks would survive the trip to California once he’s healthier, but King said the issue is, why put him through that when he’s thriving and happy where he is?
“Before this hospital, I wouldn’t have gotten [Old Man Banks] because he’s skin and bones,” King said. “It’s just a perfect example of the difference that this [hospital] makes in the lives of donkeys.”
Oscar’s Place has opened the first dedicated donkey hospital in the country in Collinsville. The hospital is located within an hour of the auction, where donkeys are rescued from the slaughter. Abigail Dollins Fort Worth Star-Telegram
The 40-acre Collinsville facility is the first hospital in the country dedicated solely to donkey care, King said.
There are plenty of equine hospitals in the U.S., but horses and donkeys are completely different animals and need their own specific care. That’s part of why he wanted to launch the hospital, to help produce data and research at scale for universities to build donkey databases.
To that end, King said he wants to establish a residency program with Texas A&M like the California operation has with the University of California, Davis.
“To have veterinarians at the very beginning of their career fall in love with donkeys, that will change the game for donkeys,” King said. “Because right now a donkey comes into a hospital, and everyone hides because nobody wants the donkey.”
Oscar’s Place has opened the first dedicated donkey hospital in the country in Collinsville. The hospital is located within an hour of the auction, where donkeys are rescued from the slaughter. Abigail Dollins Fort Worth Star-Telegram A donkey king
King’s dream for the Texas facility, and Oscar’s Place in general, is to have a positive impact on the world of donkeys.
It’s incredibly hard work, especially rescuing donkeys from these slaughter auctions where every decision is life or death. It’s not like the grievance he’d feel when he lost an advertiser at his old job. Now, there’s some real emotional weight.
“I often say that I leave a piece of my soul at the auction each time I go,” King said about his dozen or so auction visits. “I don’t have an infinite number of auctions in me because at some point I’ll be soulless.”
Ron King, the co-founder of Oscar’s Place, spends time with the donkeys being cared for at The Ugo & Elle Sap Center for the Advancement of Donkeys on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026 in Collinsville. Abigail Dollins Fort Worth Star-Telegram
While the job can be heavy, there is also plenty of joy.
King has never been more tired and dirtier than he is now, but said he wouldn’t trade it for the world. There’s an emotional reward in seeing a donkey healthy and either finding a new home or living with others at the sanctuary.
He’s also been able to help change the narrative around the animals with his ABC docuseries “Donkey King,” which showcases the work Oscar’s Place is doing in California. The 17-episode season aired earlier this year and King says there are ongoing discussions about doing another go-around.
As for the Texas hospital, King sees it as the next step in doing everything Oscar’s Place can for donkeys. It’s also a homecoming of sorts for the “Donkey King.”
While born in Arkansas, he lived in Fort Worth for a few years and attended J.P. Moore Elementary School (now named Boulevard Heights School) when his father went to seminary. Now, he’s back in his old stomping grounds with a new pursuit.
“Donkeys are really amazing,” King said. “Please give them a chance.”
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Brayden Garcia is the entertainment reporter at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, where he mainly writes about how the film and TV industry impacts North Texas, from Taylor Sheridan shows to the Fort Worth Film Commission and everything in between.