Former Texas cattle rancher invites Trump to her animal sanctuary

By AI, Created 6:31 PM UTC, May 29, 2026, /AGP/ – Renee King-Sonnen, a former Texas cattle rancher turned vegan sanctuary founder, is inviting President Trump, Sen. James Talarico and Attorney General Ken Paxton to visit Rowdy Girl Sanctuary in Austin. The move comes after a Texas Senate race dust-up over veganism and is meant to challenge claims that plant-based living is un-Texan.

Why it matters: - King-Sonnen is using a viral political argument about veganism to make a broader point about Texas identity, plant-based living and animal agriculture. - The invitation puts Rowdy Girl Sanctuary, her ranch-turned-rescue operation in Texas, into the middle of a national culture fight. - The message also ties the sanctuary’s mission to climate, public health and animal welfare debates.

What happened: - Renee King-Sonnen publicly invited President Trump to visit Rowdy Girl Sanctuary after Trump said, “you can’t get elected as a vegan in Texas.” - King-Sonnen made the invitation during a live broadcast on UnchainedTV hosted by journalist Jane Velez-Mitchell. - King-Sonnen also invited Democrat James Talarico and Republican Ken Paxton to visit the sanctuary. - The invitation came after Paxton criticized Talarico by claiming Talarico is vegan in the current U.S. Senate race in Texas. - Talarico is not vegan, but he said in 2022 that reducing meat consumption is necessary to fight global climate change.

The details: - King-Sonnen is a former Texas cattle rancher who became vegan and persuaded her husband, Tommy, to do the same. - The couple turned their cattle operation into Rowdy Girl Sanctuary, which now houses rescued cows, pigs, chickens and turkeys. - King-Sonnen said she wants Trump to meet the animals as individuals, not as commodities. - King-Sonnen pointed to Texas values such as “live and let live” and “don’t tread on me” as evidence that Texans do not all have to live the same way. - She chronicled her transition in a new book, Rowdy Girl: Confessions of a Vegan Cattle Rancher. - The book describes the emotional and logistical process of turning a Texas beef operation into a sanctuary. - Rowdy Girl Sanctuary says it provides a safe haven for factory-farmed animals while encouraging conversations about sustainable alternatives to traditional animal agriculture.

Between the lines: - The invitation reframes a political insult into a publicity moment for vegan advocacy. - King-Sonnen and Velez-Mitchell used the broadcast to argue that being called vegan should be seen as a compliment. - Their comments linked industrial animal agriculture to climate change, deforestation, wildlife loss and global hunger. - They also pointed to medical consensus connecting heavy meat consumption with chronic diseases, including heart disease. - The outreach suggests King-Sonnen is trying to show that Texas pride and plant-based values are not mutually exclusive.

What’s next: - King-Sonnen is hoping Trump, Talarico and Paxton accept the invitation and visit the sanctuary. - Renee King-Sonnen says she is available for interviews. - The book Rowdy Girl: Confessions of a Vegan Cattle Rancher is now available as the latest part of her public campaign.

The bottom line: - A Texas rancher-turned-vegan is turning a Senate race food fight into a broader argument that independent thinking, not conformity, is the most Texan position of all.