Chowchilla man is offering a cow for victims of L.A. wildfires

CHOWCHILLA, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – A rancher in Chowchilla is offering his cow’s meat to anyone who can make use of it in Los Angeles after hearing about the devastation caused by multiple fires.

Rito Perez from Chowchilla says he’s had a lifelong love and admiration of animals growing up on a ranch in Jalisco. Since moving to Chowchilla just over a year ago, Rito has started raising animals and slowly building up his ranch.

“The first animal I got was a dog,” Perez said. “They gifted him to me at Tractor Supply, I was there to buy hay for a horse.”

Soon, Perez had horses, goats, chickens, peacocks and cows.

Perez says when he saw the damage caused by the fires in Los Angeles, he wanted to help in any way that he could.

“I saw the people there and what they were going through,” Perez said. “I don’t know what it’s like to go through something like that – but it’s ugly and I feel that.”

According to Perez, he saw that there was a need for food and that many restaurants were offering victims free meals and he thought, “Oh, I can donate a cow.”

After revealing on social media what he planned, his plan took off. He got in contact with a slaughterhouse and is now working to donate all of his cow’s meat to fire victims.

Perez hopes the hundreds of pounds of meat that come from the cow will help feed some of the thousands impacted by the wildfires.

Perez says if anyone wants to reach out to assist him in getting the cow’s meat to an appropriate supplier, he is happy to receive any help he can get.