Written by Jeff Mackey
The always remarkable Bob Barker has sent urgent letters to the major sponsors of the cruel Calgary Stampede encouraging them to take PETA's advice and end their support of the deadly event.
Bob leapt into action after The Price Is Right—the game show he hosted for 35 years—began giving away prize packages that contained trips to the Stampede and to SeaWorld. Shortly afterward, Bob contacted the program's producers to ask them to stop promoting cruel animal spectacles on the show.
Now Bob has gone the extra mile by writing to some of the main companies that sponsor the Stampede—including Bell Canada, General Motors of Canada Limited, and Anheuser-Busch International—detailing the kinds of animal suffering that their money will be funding and urging them to withdraw their financial backing from the event.
Rodeos are always catastrophic for animals, but the Calgary Stampede is among the worst since they allow the use of barbaric devices that are illegal in many other countries, including electric prods and bucking straps (which are tightened around the animals' groins) in order to irritate and enrage the animals.
During last year's stampede, one horse had to be euthanized after breaking a leg on the very first day, and the previous year's event cost six horses their lives. And that's on top of the excruciating injuries—including broken bones, punctured lungs, internal bleeding and bruising, and torn tendons, ligaments, and muscles—suffered by many of the surviving animals.
Calgary Reviews | cc by 2.0
As Bob tells the Stampede sponsors, "Surely no one would be cheering a nine-day display of violence if the terrified horses and calves were cats and dogs. I hope you will agree that no animal deserves to suffer like this in the name of a tradition that should have died out with the covered wagon's last ride."
Please join PETA and Bob Barker in telling the producer of The Price Is Right never again to offer trips to SeaWorld or the Calgary Stampede as prizes.
Written by Michelle Kretzer
A lot has been happening this week at PETA: victories, anniversaries, and celebrations! We're after CareerBuilder, we stopped shipments of monkeys to laboratories, and we've done much more! Check out the latest news and victories:
What a busy week it's been in the PETAsphere! Just in case you missed any of the big news, we've got you covered. Follow us on Tumblr for future news about animal rights, vegan living, and where in the world the PETA campaigners are now.
Students at Drury University in Springfield, Missouri, have already started earning minors in animal studies, thanks to a generous donation to launch the program from Drury alumnus and PETA pal Bob Barker.
In the last few years, Bob has donated $2 million to his alma mater to establish the Drury University Forum on Animal Rights and the Dorothy Jo Barker Endowed Professorship of Animal Rights. The latter post is currently held by well-respected professor Dr. Patricia McEachern.
The pioneering new minor has animal ethics as its foundational course and will involve instructors from a wide range of fields, including biology, criminology, philosophy, psychology, religion, and sociology.
"The Animal Studies minor is for students interested in gaining an in-depth understanding of the diverse ways in which the lives of animals and humans intersect," Dr. McEachern told news sources. "The interdisciplinary nature of the minor allows students to consider historical and contemporary interactions between humans and animals from a range of perspectives."
Hopefully, more schools will be inspired to follow Drury's outstanding example. As Bob explained, "This minor in Animal Studies has captured the interest of colleges and universities nationwide."
Having seen firsthand the outpouring of affection that he received when he was grand marshal of Springfield's sesquicentennial parade (I was a bit farther back, marching with the Kickapoo High School band—Go Chiefs!), I can attest that Springfield loves Bob Barker.
But then, who doesn't? Bob Barker's generosity of spirit is as legendary as his golden tenure as master of The Price is Right. I suspect that a lot of young folks aspire to be Bob Barker—and thanks to Bob and Drury U., they can now get a little closer to that goal!
Written by PETA
It's a hazy day here on the Right Coast. As I watch leaves fall and steam rise from my soy mocha, the mood is set for a lazy (yet highly skilled) meander through gossip rags for fun stuff. Here are my faves:
Thanks for stopping by! Catch you next time, and don't forget to hug all your vegetarian friends.
Written by Missy Lane
Bob Barker never imagined that he'd be writing a blog post for CNN at the age of 85—but he's determined to help free a group of bears who are languishing in desolate concrete pits on an Indian reservation in Cherokee, North Carolina. Bob met with the Tribal Council in July to plead for the bears' release, and he has now turned to the blogosphere to get others involved:
I told Chief Hicks that I'm not an expert on bears. I'm an expert on giving away refrigerators. But I can tell you that these bears are not properly housed or fed. Cherokee has a rich cultural history and much to be proud of. The cruel bear displays are a glaring blemish on the area, and I hope that the members of the Tribal Council for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians will open their hearts and do the right thing by shutting them down. . . . Until then, my heart and my conscience won't allow me to do anything but ask people to stay away from Cherokee and voice their support for allowing the bears to retire to a sanctuary.
I told Chief Hicks that I'm not an expert on bears. I'm an expert on giving away refrigerators. But I can tell you that these bears are not properly housed or fed. Cherokee has a rich cultural history and much to be proud of. The cruel bear displays are a glaring blemish on the area, and I hope that the members of the Tribal Council for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians will open their hearts and do the right thing by shutting them down.
. . . Until then, my heart and my conscience won't allow me to do anything but ask people to stay away from Cherokee and voice their support for allowing the bears to retire to a sanctuary.
Please join Bob by contacting Principal Chief Michell Hicks of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and urging him to close Cherokee's bear pits immediately.
Written by Liz Graffeo
The following is a guest post from peta2's Marta.
Can a group of 11- to 14-year-olds from San Diego get people to eat less meat? The Sandy LEGO Beachbots can! The Beachbots build LEGO robots for competitions (where they sometimes give out vegan pizza), and they've also launched an initiative called Kids Keep the Earth Cool to persuade people to eat less meat by showing them the connection between animal agriculture and climate change.
We're really impressed with what they're doing and had to learn more. Check out what Brennan (one of the Beachbots) had to say:
How did the Sandy LEGO Beachbots come about, and what do you guys do? We do First LEGO League, which is an international LEGO robotics competition. FLL involves building and programming a LEGO robot to do certain missions. These missions are based around a certain theme, and the teams competing also have to do a project on this theme and present a presentation to the judges. We have been doing this for six years now, with various team members.
Tell us about your robot design and how you incorporate veganism.Our robot design itself isn't really related to vegetarianism—that is our solution to this year's project! The theme this year is climate change. Some of our team members (including me) were already vegetarians, so we decided to do our project on how vegetarianism relates to global warming.
How long have you been vegetarian? Do you have a favorite vegetarian recipe?My sisters and I have been vegetarians since birth—our mom, the coach, is also a vegetarian. A favorite recipe? I don't know—there are tons of great recipes out there. One of my favorites is the vegetarian lasagne my mom makes.
Do you have a recommendation for people who are not quite ready to make the full transition to vegetarianism yet?If you aren't ready to completely give up meat, reducing your meat consumption still has a huge effect! If you reduce your meat consumption by only six meatless days a month, it has the same affect as switching from a sedan to a hybrid vehicle.
Are there any other animal rights issues that are important to you?I personally am opposed to the use of animals … in any way [that] harms them. There are much better ways to do things that do not involve hurting or killing the other inhabitants of this Earth!
Isn't Brennan awesome? Check out the Web site that he and the other Sandy LEGO Beachbots made—www.kidskeeptheearthcool.org.
We love what the Beachbots are doing so much that we're giving them a Compassionate Kids Award. As the Beachbots say, "Eating a bean burrito instead of meat helps save the world!"
Written by Marta Holmberg
Seriously, all the cool kids are going vegetarian these days—and with great results. Just as our friend Mike White did, trainer Bob Harper from The Biggest Loser went vegetarian for his health—and his cholesterol count dropped 100 points.
You heard that right: 100 points!
Over at Ecorazzi, they're sayin' Bob went vegetarian after reading Skinny Bitch. I really should start lending my copy to more people.
Written by Amanda Schinke
You didn't think we meant the couple from the Garden of Eden, did you? Naw. Another young pair, who just happen to be named Adam and Eve, joined other caring individuals in Orlando to school residents about McCruelty McDonald's. The fast-food giant refuses to improve conditions for millions of chickens, many of whom suffer broken bones or die in vats of scalding-hot water—while they are still conscious—on their way to becoming McNuggets.
Written by Karin Bennett
My most beloved game show host—no, not that one—Bob Barker has once again stepped up to the mic to speak up for animals.
Yesterday, Bob met with Principal Chief Michell Hicks and members of the Tribal Council for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians to plead for compassion for captive bears in Cherokee, North Carolina, who languish in desolate concrete pits and cages in roadside zoos. After Bob saw firsthand the deplorable conditions at one of these tourist traps (he was denied entry to the other two), he urged Principal Chief Hicks to release the miserable bears to a sanctuary in California.
Although no promises were made at yesterday's meeting, PETA won't rest until the black bears are retired to sanctuaries. After all, according to Cherokee legend, black bears are the keepers of dreams. No doubt all of these imprisoned bears are dreaming of their own freedom.
We all know what a friend beloved TV host Bob Barker is to animals. From ending every episode of The Price Is Right with a plea to spay and neuter animal companions to keeping the showcases fur-free, he's never been afraid to speak up for animals.
Not to get all "the price is wrong" on you or anything, but in Cherokee, North Carolina, there are three "tourist attractions" that keep bears in grossly inhumane conditions. The neurotic, hungry bears are confined to desolate concrete pits in which they pace back and forth, walk in endless circles, cry and whimper, fight with one another, and beg tourists to toss them a morsel of food.
What do these tourist traps have to do with Bob Barker? As a compassionate person of Native American descent (he spent much of his youth at the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota), Bob has requested a meeting with the principal chief of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation to discuss an end to the town's displays of bears in pits and cages.
As he wrote to Principal Chief Hicks, "Cherokee has so much to offer, such as its beautiful mountains, museums, cultural and historical exhibits, Native American shops, friendly residents, and casino. The caged bears may have been a big attraction at one time but are now seen as an embarrassment to the community and should be permanently closed down."
To join Bob in asking that the cruel bear pits be closed down, please send a respectful letter to Principal Chief Hicks letting him know that bears should be respected, not left in a pit to languish.
If you have a general question for PETA and would like a response, please e-mail Info@peta.org. If you need to report cruelty to an animal, please click here. If you are reporting an animal in imminent danger and know where to find the animal and if the abuse is taking place right now, please call your local police department. If the police are unresponsive, please call PETA immediately at 757-622-7382 and press 2.
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