February 12, 2008 by Delinda Lombardo
Bob Barker, best known for hosting CBS’s The Price Is Right, won 19 Emmy Awards during his 50-year television career before retiring in June, 2007. But retirement for Bob Barker simply translates into more time to pursue a cause close to his heart – the ethical treatment of animals.
The adored game-show host and animal activist recently announced that he is donating $1 million to his alma mater, Drury University, to establish an undergraduate animal-ethics program.
’’It’s incredible that I ever was able to go back to Springfield and give them a million dollars, because when I was there, I didn’t have 15 cents,’’ Barker told The Associated Press. ’’What I’m hoping is that this will become a model for other undergraduate schools.’‘
Even before Barker retired, he had already donated millions to create animal-ethics curricula at various law schools, including Harvard, Columbia and Northwestern, in the hope of encouraging aspiring lawyers, judges, and politicians to consider animal rights in their work.
’’If young people are introduced to the terrible exploitation and mistreatment of animals in society, it will help influence them in anything they do,’’ he said.
Barker has been a devoted animal activist for nearly 30 years, and has called for statewide legislation in California to make the spaying-neutering of pets mandatory in the state.
’’For 25 years, I’ve been closing every ‘Price Is Right’ by urging people to have their pets spayed and neutered, and it did help… But it hasn’t been enough,’’ he said. ’’When your education and encouragement fail, you have to have legislation.’‘
Barker founded the DJ&T Foundation in 1995, with a goal to fund low cost spay/neuter clinics and voucher programs as a way to help relieve animal over population. Since its inception, Barker’s Foundation has contributed millions of dollars to fund animal rescue and park facilities all over the country.
’’I can tell now I’ve been meant for this all my life,’’ he said. ’’I’m so busy, I don’t know how I ever had time to do ‘The Price Is Right.”
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4 comments
There are unattended and mistreated horses on outskirts of Phoenix in Pinal county where I live. When I drive from my home it brakes my heart to see them standing in those small, enclosed spaces with nothing but mud in it. I see them nibbling on dirt and many do not have a shade during summer. I would like to start a charitable foundation to purchase those beautiful creatures and a nice piece of land where they could roam and be happy. Many have "for sale" signs, but nobody wants them. There are more and more developments coming in all around and no one thinks about saving those animals. I would like to get in touch with Mr. Barker and ask if he would sponsor my idea in any way. Please, help.
The horse story is so sad! Why don't you contact the Helen Woodward Animal Center in Southern California (near San Diego) and ask if they can help with these horses. Also, try http://www.rescueahorse.com/ out of Scottsdale or http://www.equineeden.org/. Maybe they can help you help these poor horses. Thanks for caring!
Now that Los Angeles and other cities in California have adopted spay and neuter laws for our pet companions, what can we do to stop the hurtful, life shortening hormone disruption that occurs abruptly after our pet has been spayed or neutered ?
Hormone loss from spaying / neutering shortens our dogs life, diminishes vitality and accelerates aging, to name a few.
Steve, there is truth in what you say. All mammals need all their hormones. A very effective and proven "replacement" for spayed ar neutered pets is to use the well proven soy isoflavones as functional hormone replacement. The FDA has allowed for humans to do this and there is a new hormone replacement biscuit on the market that solves the compelling need of pet population control and the need for hormone functionality and doesn't require perscriptions or vet visits.
Phil Schoenwetter, MD
9 months ago