A new North Texas hospital now gives rescued donkeys medical care before the long trip to a California sanctuary, adding a treatment stop to a nonprofit’s auction-to-adoption operation.
Oscar’s Place co-founder Ron King told CBS Texas: “I think as of yesterday we’ve rescued 527 donkeys.”
The Collinsville facility, the Center for the Advancement of Donkeys, opened September 5 and received its first 14 rescued donkeys the following day, KXII reported. King describes it as the country’s first hospital devoted exclusively to donkey care.
China’s demand drives a cross-border hide trade
The rescue work intersects with an international trade in donkey hides. The Animal Welfare Institute explains that producers boil the skins to make ejiao, a gelatin used in traditional Chinese medicine and cosmetics. Demand from China has outstripped its domestic donkey supply, pushing producers to seek hides from the Americas, Africa and other parts of Asia.
That demand reaches Texas through buyers supplying slaughterhouses in Mexico. King told KXII that buyers travel from Mexico to purchase donkeys at auction and transport them south for slaughter to supply hides for ejiao production. His organization buys donkeys at the Bowie Livestock Auction.
The Animal Welfare Institute describes serious welfare problems in the global trade, including long journeys without adequate food, water, or rest, and injuries and mistreatment during transport and slaughter. The organization warns that demand for hides harms both donkeys and communities that depend on them for work.
Treatment before the California trip
Oscar’s Place says the North Texas location, about an hour from the auction where it purchases animals, addresses a problem in its rescue process: Donkeys previously faced a 32-hour trailer ride to California before the organization could begin treatment there. Sick animals could spread illness during transport.
The hospital allows the organization to assess incoming animals and start care near the auction instead.
On its website, the nonprofit describes a hospital barn with 14 heated and cooled stalls, an intake arena, an on-site laboratory and pharmacy, an isolation ward and 40 acres of recovery pastures. It also lists separate housing for donkeys with contagious conditions.
King said that the Texas facility changes which animals his team can help, The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported. The newspaper described Old Man Banks, a roughly 30-year-old donkey with hoof damage and severe malnutrition, as one beneficiary. King plans to let him remain in Texas rather than put him through the trip to California.
For other donkeys, recovery precedes transport to the nonprofit’s California operation for adoption or sanctuary care.
Rescue work reaches television viewers
King and Oscar’s Place also feature in “Donkey King,” a docuseries shown on ABC stations nationwide. The nonprofit says the first season contains 17 episodes showcasing the donkeys and the people who care for them. ABC News Live featured King in a January 17, 2026, segment about the series and his rescue work.
The hospital also gives Oscar’s Place a base for a broader ambition. The organization says it wants to collect data, train veterinarians, and advance donkey medicine. Its hospital website says a Texas volunteer program remains in development.
North Texas also has other organizations working to rehome the animals. As The Dallas Express previously reported in January 2023, the separate Donkey and Equine Haven Rescue in Celina sought adopters after an influx of donkeys and mules.
