[presidio9]

He gives money to Bush, but my point was about the stupid liberal idea of removing all elephants from zoos. Barker often allies himself with the far left on animal rights issues.

[kjo]

The most condesending host in the history of television.

[EveningStar]

I do think that wild animal parks are better for elephants than zoos.

[Richard Kimball]

Barker's late wife was an animal rights activist. It was in memory of her that he began showing animals from the ASPCA on Price is Right, and also why he closes with "remember to spay and neuter your pets." I've always thought it was a nice tribute to her, even if he did start boinking all the Price is Right models shortly after she died.

I disagree with him on the elephants. Much of the work done by animal rights activists is actually antithical to their cause, just as the environmentalists do much harm to the environment (massive wild fires because they don't want fire breaks, etc.). Most modern zoos are run by people who love animals, and are well tended. They live longer than animals in the wild, and seldom are eaten by other animals. They get treatment for disease, and an infected foot isn't a death sentence.

Just as the animal rights activists protest rodeos, where bulls worth thousands are probably the best treated stock animals in the world, they protest zoos, because they compare the animal treatment to perfection, rather than how most other animals of their types live.