The Price Is NOT Right

Several years back I was a radio talk show junkie and I used to listen to this national call-in radio show with great interest.   The name of the show now escapes me, but the host of the show would nightly have a wide range of guests dealing with a broad spectrum of topics.

On one particular summer’s night the show topic was on animal rights and the guest that evening was none other than Bob Barker, from the “Price is Right” game show fame.   On this particular eve, however, Barker was on the radio to promote his agenda of animal rights.   Indeed, there is perhaps no other celebrity spokesperson more vocal about animal rights issues than our beloved Bob Barker.

As a long-time trapper, hunter and all-around sportsman, Barker has always come across to me like fingernails grating across a chalkboard.   Listening to him speak shows a guy who in my estimation just doesn’t get it.   You can have compassion for animals understood, but you must also draw the line as to realizing that there is a point where actions start becoming anthropomorphic.   When you begin to think that a cute cottontail rabbit has the same rights as a young child…somewhere along the way your thinking has gone wildly askew.

On this particular summer night Barker was spewing his usual crap and I had heard enough.   I picked up the cordless phone…and for the first time ever I dialed in to a radio talk show.   A national talk show, nonetheless.   Much to my surprise I got thru and spoke to a producer who asked me what I wanted to ask or tell Mr. Barker.   As I recall, I told the producer I wanted to tell Barker he was full of crap.

Unfortunately, as so often happens, time runs out on talk shows and callers do not get on.   On this particular night, there were three callers in queue ahead of me and while each of the three got on…the show host did his final wrap-up indicating there was no time for Jim calling in from Minnesota.

The experience was bittersweet.   On one hand I was a bit bummed that I had mustered up the courage only to not get the chance to go on.   Still, another part of me was relieved that I did not have to confront Barker face to face (or at least voice to voice) on an issue that both of us feel so passionate about.   Who knows how the exchange could have unraveled.

You see…in my estimation Barker and folks of his ilk are hypocrites.   You cannot possibly go through life without somehow using animals (and thus breaching their so-called legal “rights”).   Animal products are part of the very fabric that is woven throughout our entire world.

Sure, someone like Barker will profess not to wear leather shoes or a leather belt…but do these same people have pictures hanging on the wall at home…or maybe a photo album?   Chemicals used in the processing and developing of photos contain elements of animal by-products in them.   If Barker gets in a bad car accident and is rushed to the hospital…is he going to pick and choose what medical procedures are used to sustain his life based on how those procedures where developed or perfected (and whether or not animals were used for training or research)?   I doubt it.   No, we should all suffer the consequences and give up what is good in life because someone has the convoluted thought that a pig ought to be able to sue the farmer if somehow its rights are violated.

Okay, so you think this is not serious stuff?   Well, guess again.   A few days ago Bob Barker just gave a $1 million endowment fund to create coursework at Northwestern University for the Study of Animal Rights Law.   That’s right…NU is the fifth college law department Barker has endowed so he can perpetuate and inspire law grads from around the country to take up his cause and to fight for legal action.

Certainly I don’t begrudge Barker for spending his money however he sees fit.   I’m sure the old man is looking to develop a legacy that will survive him for years to come.   Yet, as a sportsman this sort of action really concerns me.   I think far too many fellow hunters, fishermen and trappers just don’t get it…there is a real threat out there from the likes of people acting as Barker does.

We can’t start taking this crap seriously when it is too late.   To fight the battles that Barker and other antis have waged we need to be more proactive.   When Barker makes the news donating his millions, sportsmen as a united force need to counteract those efforts in some way.   And on this one we are not alone.   Sportsmen, farmers and others who use animals in some fashion need to all be united on this front.

You know, when Barker wraps up his program he is quick to point out to folks “be sure to have your pets spayed or neutered.”    I have no problem with this agenda…but unfortunately he’s a lonely man who must take on much more extreme causes in order to pass his time.   Indeed, the man who has surprised many with what’s behind door #3 could someday soon surprise many of us by muddying up the legal waters on how we all are allowed to interact with the other fauna in our ecosystem.   Please, let’s not allow this to happen.

© 2005 Jim Braaten.  All Rights Reserved.   No Reproduction without Prior Permission.