Christine Shaw, whose 85-acre ranch, Sandy Fork Pastures, is about 16 miles from Rowdy Woman, says that when she first heard in regards to the sanctuary, “My first response was, ‘Good for them.’” The homesteader, who’s in her 50s however requested to not share her precise age, raises chickens, bees, and Texas Longhorns. On the finish of the day, Shaw sees each herself and Renee as caretakers of cattle, solely “they’ve discovered a distinct segment that’s interesting to prospects who wish to save them,” Shaw says.
Alongside operating the sanctuary, Renee’s mission hopes to encourage ranchers to make an identical shift away from animal agriculture—efforts that have been featured in a latest documentary, directed by Jason Goldman and govt produced by vegan musician Moby. As an alternative of elevating animals, she desires farmers to have the sources to develop crops, mushrooms, and grains.
When certainly one of 67-year-old rancher Richard Traylor’s cows, Honey, damage her leg in 2019, the plan was to take her to market, the place she’d be offered for meat. However Honey was his spouse Cindy’s favourite cow. In a frantic search to save lots of her, Cindy discovered Rowdy Woman Sanctuary, a few 150-mile drive away. After Renee took in Honey, the Traylors transported their remaining cattle to the sanctuary over the following six months. Nevertheless it was after their first assembly with Renee and Tommy that they determined to go vegan themselves. “She wears you down,” says Cindy, a 74-year-old counselor.
On-line, nonetheless, Rowdy Woman Sanctuary has attracted loads of critics through the years. One Fb web page, known as “The Actual Rowdy Woman Revealed,” has posted claims that the sanctuary is a “rip-off” and a “pyramid scheme,” and raised questions on its customary of care. Renee says that the claims are bogus.
“The ache and struggling it induced us can not presumably be described on this article,” she says, citing the “poisonous” web page. “The truth that I’ve defied the chances and have been in a position to do what most individuals thought was unattainable and will by no means be finished simply comes with its justifiable share of intense warmth and strain—and it hurts.”
Although they’ve by no means been capable of finding out who’s behind it, Tommy and Renee filed a defamation lawsuit towards its creators. In 2017, they misplaced the case and the court docket decided the pair needed to pay $159,000 in legal professional charges, prices, and sanctions.
Proper now, Renee is targeted on writing a memoir about her life story and sits on the Agriculture Equity Alliance’s board of administrators. The group is presently lobbying for presidency subsidies to assist farmers transition from elevating animals to rising plant-based meals. She’s additionally hoping to boost cash later this 12 months to construct a veterinary remedy heart that focuses on treating older cattle. (Most cattle are slaughtered younger, so Renee says that the majority vets don’t know how you can deal with “ageing bovine.”)
Renee and Rowdy Woman, who is flourishing, stay bonded. “I don’t know the place she ends and I start; that’s simply our vitality,” she says. As for her and Tommy, the largest subject the couple disagrees on now’s when to retire. “I typically really feel unhealthy as a result of he desires to loosen up extra,” Renee tells me. “Tommy is aware of I’d take a bullet on the street for this trigger, so his loyalty is typically on the expense of his want for extra recreation.”
She’s even turned his reluctant journey into merch: a grey baseball t-shirt with pink sleeves and an illustrated likeness of Tommy on the again. It reads, “I had veganism shoved down my throat, I chewed it up, and I appreciated it.”
