Bob Barker Gift Endows Animal Rights Law Course

Bob Barker, host of the Emmy award winning "The Price Is Right" and a longtime proponent of animal welfare, has donated $1 million to the Northwestern University School of Law to endow a course in animal rights law.

The Bob Barker Endowment Fund for the Study of Animal Rights Law will provide students an opportunity to earn course credit. Course topics could include: how humans interact with and use animals; current animal protection laws; species protection; and international wildlife law.

Barker has previously made $1 million gifts to the University of California at Los Angeles, Duke University, Stanford University and Columbia University. It all began with a similar endowment established in his name at Harvard Law School by FemantleMedia, which produces "The Price Is Right."

"Animals need all the protection we can give them," Barker said. "We intend to train a growing number of law students in this area of the law in the hope that they will ultimately lead a national effort to make it illegal to brutalize and exploit these helpless creatures."

"Northwestern Law School is grateful for Mr. Barker’s generous gift," said Dean David Van Zandt. "This fund will allow our faculty and students to explore an emerging field of law that has ramifications in many traditional legal areas."

"Many of our students can expect to deal with an animal law issue at some point in their careers," he said. "Legal issues can cover a wide spectrum, ranging from patent and intellectual property law to criminal prosecution or defense, or constitutional law." Experimental animal cloning is a recent example of intellectual property context where animal law issues have emerged, he added.

The host of "The Price Is Right" for 33 years, Barker has long been associated with the animal rights movement. He established the DJ&T Foundation in memory of his wife and mother to help control the animal population and has received numerous awards from humane organizations.

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