Priceless Memories - Bob Barker [85]
Nancy and I discussed how we should proceed. As a result of our experience with the American Humane Association during the Project X exposé, we had lost all confidence in AHA. We decided to seek the assistance of Madeline Bernstein of SPCALA, who has a rock-solid reputation for having no sympathy for animal abusers. We called Madeline, told her what the two eyewitnesses had reported, and asked her if she would meet with us and discuss the matter. Typical of Madeline, she said, “There’s no need for further discussion. I’ll have two humane officers out there tomorrow in plainclothes to check it out.” The two humane officers checked out everything having to do with the horses and reported that conditions were as bad as—if not worse than—the eyewitnesses had described them to be.
Beth Sullivan, executive producer of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, emerged as a heroine. She told the humane officers that she had been concerned about the horses and had told the head wrangler to take better care of them. In spite of the fact that Beth Sullivan agreed with SPCALA humane officers that a problem existed with the manner in which the horses had been cared for and that the problem had to be corrected, the woman who at that time was the director of the American Humane Association Hollywood office went on television and said that AHA had two officers on duty at all times, and they had observed no problems with the horses. Can you understand why Nancy and I don’t go to the American Humane Association with animal abuse problems in movies and on television?
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In regards to legislation, it was in the late 1980s that I had a telephone call from Marion La Folette, who was a California assemblywoman at that time. Marion said that she wanted to amend the California penal code to include felony penalties for animal abusers who commit crimes against animals. As the penal code was written at that time, such crimes were only a misdemeanor. Marion asked me if I would be willing to come to Sacramento to lobby in favor of such an amendment. I said, “Gladly. Crimes against animals should be a felony.”
Marion said, “Thank you, Bob, and you can write the language for the amendment.”
I told Marion that writing the language for the amendment was not my bag, but that I had a friend who could do it beautifully. Of course, I was referring to Nancy Burnet, who has extensive experience in such writing. As it turned out, Nancy not only wrote the language for the amendment to the penal code but also managed to close some loopholes in the code along the way. Nancy wrote the amendment and lobbied. I lobbied, too. Marion got the amendment passed and, as a result, an animal abuser who commits a crime against an animal in the state of California has committed a felony.
For a quarter of a century, I have had the good fortune and the pleasure of working with Nancy Burnet and her organization, United Activists for Animal Rights, in an effort to make ours a better world for animals. Animal rights activists across the country—around the world, as a matter of fact—have accomplished a great deal and the momentum increases almost daily. As Al Jolson used to say: “You ain’t seen nothing yet!”
14
Retirement Can Keep You Busy
I am a complete success at retirement.
I think I stopped doing The Price Is Right at just the right time. I enjoyed hosting right up to the last minute of the last show. But I had been concerned that the first morning that I awakened and realized that I didn’t have a show to do that day—or ever—I might go into a deep depression or at least a funk.
However, quite the contrary, I awakened with a wonderful feeling of relaxation. I had enjoyed doing my shows so very much for half a century that it had never occurred to me that my demanding schedule for so many years might have had any adverse affect