Taking a Moment to Remember: Karl Herler and Richard Pryor

[Guest guest]

Dear Animal Advocates, Companions, Guardians, Vigilers, Lovers and Liberators: With the end of the year here, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on two late activists for animals. First, there was the late Karl Herler (1936-2004). I initially became acquainted with Karl and his two daughters, Kristina and Eva, nearly twenty years ago. At that time, all I knew of Karl was that he was a middle-aged man with two young girls, all who would often attend demonstrations against the abuse of animals at the San Francisco Zoo, Roberts Furs,

and the Letterman Army Institute of Research (then in full operation at the Presidio of San Francisco). I was always glad to see Karl and his kids at our demonstrations; oftentimes their presence meant that we had twice as many protesters as we would have had otherwise. To be honest, I know little of Karl's past, though I have heard some of its sad and sordid aspects. I do know that he had spent some time in prison. As Kristina said, "He had been behind bars many a time and knew what it was like to be caged, without freedom, and basically treated like an animal." There was no doubt that Karl's experiences behind bars influenced his activism for the animals finding themselves in similar plights. I remember Karl's last attendance at a demonstration against UCSF last year. I recall talking with him briefly about the fact that one of our leaflets showed the connection between

flawed medical treatment for stroke victims and poorly devised experiments on animals (ab)used in the development of conventional medications. (By the way, Karl had suffered a stroke but recovered for the most part.) Anyhow, I didn't know it at the time, but he was dying from a cancer that was attacking his liver. Even though in pain, Kristina said that Karl wanted to be there. Within a few months of his attendance at the protest, he had passed on to the next world. Probably one of the greatest legacies of Karl Herler was his fostering of compassion and activism for animals in his daughters, Kristina and Eva. As Kristina reflected recently, "When Eva and I suggested we go veg, he did not hesitate, and agreed it was the right thing to do." Thankfully his legacy lives on in Kristina and Eva - and his teen-age grandson Karl, a vegan and activist for animals

in his own right. ---------- I never thought of the comedian and actor, the late Richard Pryor (1940-2005), as an animal activist, until I read his book PRYOR CONVICTIONS AND OTHER LIFE SENTENCES. In the book he mentioned a very short-termed job he held as a janitor in the offices of a slaughterhouse, located somewhere in the Midwest, I think. He relates the story of a bull escaping from the confines of the yard - and finding its way into the office building, where he was working. There was something both humorous and compassionate about his description of his coming face to face with a bull gone mad, running for its life to escape the fate of the slaughterhouse; I believe that was Richard's last day on the job. Yet it was years later that

I discovered that Richard Pryor and his wife Jennifer Lee Pryor were indeed activists for animals. One of the last things Richard Pryor did for animals was write UCSF Chancellor J. Michael Bishop an impassioned letter earlier this year on behalf of monkeys (ab)used in the study of multiple sclerosis (MS) at the university. (Richard Pryor had suffered from MS in the later years of his life.) In his letter he stated, "I am painfully disturbed about the use of monkeys in the study of multiple sclerosis (MS) at the University of California, San Francisco....The fact that I suffer from MS does not cause me to want to seek a cure by inflicting suffering on my fellow nonhuman primates of the world....I would rather continue to suffer from the disease than to acquire a cure through the suffering and death of those little monkeys exploited in such cruel research." Mr. Pryor also teamed up with PETA last year to create an ad in the campaign to expose and stop KFC's (ab)use of factory-farmed chickens. In the ad Pryor urged people to join in boycotting KFC for its cruelty to chickens. However, a proposed billboard of the ad was rejected by all local outdoor-advertising companies in Detroit. Yet PETA countered KFC’s attempts to target African-Americans by placing a printed version of the ad in many African-American newspapers throughout the country. If you are interested in learning more about the activist work of Richard and Jennifer Lee Pryor, check out www.richardpryor.com. (Note: You must confirm that you are over eighteen (18) years of age and are not offended by foul language of any kind in order to view the web site.)----

For a happier and more hopeful year for all animals, I am Sincerely, Bob O'Brien

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