Bob Barker Is Spending His Retirement Helping to Rescue Abused Donkeys
When people think about Bob Barker, I imagine that they remember him saying, “Come on down, you’re the next contestant on ‘The Price Is Right!’” However, the longtime game show host was also passionate about reminding pet owners to neuter and spay their furry charges.
So when Bob Barker retired in 2007, it shouldn’t have surprised anyone that he turned his twilight years toward charitably helping animals.
A regular supporter of the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals, he famously petitioned the Miami Seaquarium to release the orca Lolita.
He also donated $50,000 to Minneapolis-based The Wildcat Sanctuary, a reserve that sheltered felines such as tigers, lynx, and bobcats. However, the animal he’s aiding now is one with, er, significantly less visual appeal.
Barker has given multiple times to DonkeyLand Rescue, an organization that helps donkeys and wild burros.
“We have rescued and rehabilitated animals who have been severely abused, neglected, starved to emaciation, beaten, confined in their own waste, shot and many other acts of animal cruelty,” the organization wrote on its website.
DonkeyLand does more than merely provide shelter to these cousins of the domesticated horse. It also sterilizes them, provides medical treatment, and even rehabilitates grievous wounds.
Founder Amber LeVonne has even provided prosthetic hooves for wounded animals. Her devotion was part of the reason why Barker became so interested in the organization.
“These burros, they’re being hit by cars and killed and injured in horrible ways,” Barker told the San Bernardino Sun. “And Amber and her family have really, you talk about being an angel, they are angels. …
“I was so impressed when I heard about what they’re doing. I knew I had to help them.”
Barker’s donation has gone toward the purchase of 466 acres of land for the organization. LeVonne originally used rented land as a temporary home for her donkeys.
“A slice of heaven on earth has officially been preserved and gifted to DonkeyLand,” she wrote on the group’s Facebook page. And though donkeys may seem a strange creature for an entertainment icon to help, Barker himself explained that he always found them adorable.
“Burros have always, to me, been lovable creatures,” Barker explained. “I hate to think of them suffering the way they were.”
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