Jennifer Pryor and her late husband, actor-comedian Richard Pryor, shared a passion for animals. They were crusaders together, championing the causes of both wild and domesticated animals. Whether it was helping save baby elephants stolen from their mothers or rallying politicians to prosecute animal abusers, the couple did what they could to fight injustice against animals. Today, Jennifer 
continues their calling, without her husband, but with the same unwavering conviction.
I first met Jennifer at the Best Friends Pet Adoption Festival in Los Angles earlier this year where she had a booth for her nonprofit organization, Pryor's Planet. The event was a huge gathering of rescue organizations and shelters hoping to find homes for homeless animals. At the end of the day, there were many animals still without homes. Some were from the shelters where euthanasia is inevitable if not adopted. But not on this particular day. The animals caught a break because at the end of the day when the general public had gone, Jennifer and the other hard-core rescuers got together and divided up the unadopted left behind, rescuing them from an almost certain and sad fate. Jennifer says of the day: "I adopted out two dogs and took home five." Why did she and the others do it? Because that's what rescuers do..Rescue.
When GP sat down with Jennifer for an interview, here's what she had to say about rescuers: "You're talking about people who, for the most part, will put the dogs before food in their own mouths. People from A to Z. People with money. People who don't have a dime. Rescuers pay for vetting, for boarding, for transport, and not to mention they pay with their own blood, sweat, and tears. And we're not going anywhere. We're here to stay. We're here for the long run. This is our calling. This is our hearts.
"I'm one of many and I will say that I walk among an army of saints. We are foot soldiers on the ground fighting for these animals. We'd do anything for them," she says. And sparing each and every one of them is definitely a priority. Her organization, Pryor's Planet, is a 501(c), a nonprofit. If you're a 501, in the New Hope Program you can get dogs at a low rate, you're an official rescuer. When a dog is red-listed - meaning in danger of being put down, you can pull for the low rate of five dollars. That's when the rescuers scoop them up."
Throughout our interview, Jennifer fielded phone calls regarding the day's urgent task -- finding foster homes with fellow rescuers for sick pit bull puppies. It was a debacle that started when somehow -- against policy -- an LA Animal Services shelter allowed the 12 unweened, unsprayed, unneutered pups and their mother to be adopted by one individual. The limit is three dogs. Because of the "stink" (as she put it) that Jennifer and others made, the puppies were returned to the shelter. But now they all had upper respiratory problems.
The fear of course when so large a number is adopted is that they would be used for breeding and, worse, for fighting. "In ten years those dogs will be 87,000 dogs", Jennifer says. "The only way we're going to get this whole animal thing under control is spay/neuter, spay/neuter, spay/neuter."
Listening to her in action, you get the great sense that this woman is unstoppable. Her words convincing, her energy boundless, her passion irrepressible and volcanic. I kept thinking 'How could anyone possibly say no to this woman?' On that day, no one did.
I heard her say to a rescuer who called to discuss taking some of the puppies: "I'll give you a hundred dollars for each dog...plus a car...and a trip to Vegas." She was kidding, of course, but nevertheless, it worked. The woman took four.
When I said I was so glad there were people like her, she said "Yeah, with big mouths." (What I meant was with big hearts.) "It's a problem I've had my whole life." She laughs: "Where's my edit button?" But then more seriously: "It is a calling to speak up for the voiceless. We do see it that way. We all have a voice and we have to use it."
She got another phone call. This time it was from a shelter worker, thanking her profusely for all her help and vigilance with the pit bull puppies. The worker likened her to Mother Teresa. Yes, I could see that, but a bit more outspoken and feisty.
I remember reading just a week before Richard Pryor's death, despite his grave illness, the couple sent a letter to an Indiana Sheriff regarding a police officer who was being investigated in the deaths of his girlfriend's two dogs. The police officer was put on administrative leave. Richard and Jennifer implored the Sheriff not to let this be "swept under the rug." I remember thinking how much that said about the Pryors and their absolute selfless compassion for animals. When I mentioned the incident to Jennifer, she said:
"I think it's a cliche to say, but when there's a higher purpose, we all feel better about ourselves whether we're sick or healthy or what ever's going on in our lives. Richard certainly felt energized and a commitment to help the animals. His being ill didn't stop that. It emboldened him."
Richard Pryor had multiple sclerosis, but he was adamantly opposed to the use of animals in researching disease and sent out a Christmas card discouraging donations to charities that funded testing. He was honored by PETA, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, for saving baby elephants in Botswana targeted for circuses. He wrote a letter to the first African-American ringmaster of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus as they were preparing to open at Madison Square Garden
He wrote: "While I am hardly one to complain about a young African American making an honest living, I urge you to ask yourself just how honorable it is to preside over the abuse and suffering of animals." Richard was known to compare the treatment of elephants in circuses to slavery. Jennifer says: "If you look at the elephants' chains, they are the same chains used during slavery and the same tools of punishment. These connections were very real to us and spoke to us."
Richard and Jennifer married twice. And she's very open about her life past and present. "We were always in love. Obviously there was a lot of intense stuff that went on. The good, the bad, and the ugly. That was passion. In the 70s everybody was nuts and everybody was doing drugs. I've got no shame about it. Richard used to say, "what doesn't kill you makes you fat. You just get stronger and smarter."
"When we got back together it was a more mature love. We'd been through the wars, we'd been through the fires -- literally and figuratively -- and we had grown stronger and obviously understood what real love was about. And it wasn't about piles of cocaine, or piles of money, or piles of clothes, or piles of parties, or whatever. It's about something very real and hard and difficult and taking care of Richard and making lemonade from lemons was really what our goal was. And to cobble together a good life out of these ashes and we did it."
What is Pryor's Planet?
"Pryor's Planet is a nonprofit organization with a website that hopefully will connect people and rescuers alike; it is useful as a networking tool, and as a place to obtain information. We have a "Do Not Adopt" (DNA) list on there that we keep current. We have links to other sites and organizations. I want to reach people, enlightening them about the plight of animals."
Do you think that as a society we're becoming more aware?
"Talking about awareness is a very interesting topic. Burger King is now going to buy chicken from chicken-friendly farmers. They'll atmospherically sedate them before they kill them opposed to just electrocuting them. Is it better? Yes, it's one step better. It speaks to awareness. And the animal advocates call it an amazing historical moment since it involves the second largest burger-selling joint in America
"I had dinner with an old friend just when the Pet Food Recall first happened. He said what's really interesting is the recall is right up there with the Iraq war. He said that tells me where America's at. I had to agree, there is a growing awareness. I also believe that concurrently we have major problems in the world and in this country regarding the way we treat animals. I am currently involved in the class-action lawsuit regarding the Chinese pet food debacle; one of my rescues died while in foster care, from the tainted food."
What about those people who don't care about animals?
"It says something about the person's character, about their soul. It totally speaks to who they are and what their soul's all about or lack thereof. I wrote a letter to a television personality who was knocking dogs and animals, who stated she believed they don't have feelings. I told her, "people who believe that dogs and other animals don't have feelings usually don't have any of their own."
How did you get so involved with animals? Who was the animal person?
"We both were. In Richard's comedy, he always connected with animals. He talked about the deer; he gave voice to the German Shepherd who talked to him when he had a broken heart one day. We went to Africa together on a photographic safari. Our awareness was incremental as it usually is.
"I rescued my first dog from the FDR Drive in 1986 in New York City. She was thrown out of a truck. Then I brought her out here when I moved back in 1994. At that time I really started becoming engaged and people started reaching out to us, asking us to get involved. For example, PETA, asked us to help in repatriating baby elephants stolen from their mothers by circus owners. We really got more involved with that. It held a deep resonance and spoke to Richard. He understood the correlation between slavery and what is done to animals. It gave Richard a great sense of purpose and meaning as it certainly gives me.
"As Richard grew sicker and was less able to get out there and do his thing, animals became even more important to him. He had two companion animals -- Homer and Spirit. They were rescues obviously. They connected to him in a beautiful way.
"I think when all the noise stops in our lives, we're able to hear the sound of our own hearts and animals' hearts; that sounds holds a special and different kind of beauty that helps us realize what life is really about."
Are you always this high energy?
"I've always been high energy but the interesting thing is I think I'm becoming more so as I get older; I think that speaks to my belief that there's so much to do and not enough time. My days are filled. There's so much to accomplish."
How do you get your fortitude?
"I am reenergized and reinvigorated by the animals. The healing and love flows back and forth between animal and human. It keeps inspiring and motivating"
I know you have been active in fighting the horse slaughter. Can you tell me about that?
"A federal court ruling recently came down saying: it is against the law for the USDA to accept payments for the equine slaughterhouses for the inspection of animals killed for human consumption. Effective immediately:no more horses can legally be slaughtered for human consumption in the U.S. They do retain the right to appeal this ruling. This remains an ongoing fight."
Along with Willie Nelson, Morgan Fairchild, and Bo Derek, Jennifer made a public service announcement to ban the horse slaughter.
Where do you see yourself in five or ten years?
"On the one hand, I'm developing all these projects and protecting Richard's legacy, adding to it, guarding and ensuring it. One thing is what I do and the other is who I am. And that's how I see myself. My work is my work. I'm writing books. My second book is a memoir for Simon & Schuster. My first published memoir, called Tarnished Angel, was about my childhood through the end of my first marriage to Richard. And this will be looking back at everything but going through the last eleven years with Richard; the years when the party was over but the love, agape, was resurrected in a profound way.
"Very few people have the opportunity to come back, pick up the debris of one's life and turn it into lemonade; it was an amazing gift. One filled with many struggles. I want to write about that. There are other books I want to write. I'm developing a movie on Richard's life. I'm developing a one-woman show on my life. In five years I would like to see at least half of those projects come to fruition. And maybe in ten years, I would like to have a farm with rescued horses and loads of dogs!
"I'm very excited about my future. I view it as a great life and feel very fortunate.
"At the end of my life, hopefully I'll look back and say God, I really made a difference."
She told me about a man, a stranger, who started writing to her. He said he was lonely and looking for women. "I told him go get a dog if you're lonely." He said his apartment building wouldn't allow it. I told him, "time to move." You know he moved and got a dog. That's one person. There have been a few more. It's the stone in the pond. And each of us has an obligation. What else are we here for?"
Jennifer says she has quotes she lives by, which are taped to her computer. One of them is by Elie Wiesel. Of course, she did make a slight change. She substitutes "animals" for "human beings"
"I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever animals endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented."
She says: "We find out who we are when we rise to an occasion. And a lot of people can be more effective and do more if they'd take one step -- if they'd open their mouths. People call us and ask what they can do. They can become a rescuer."
How do you want to be remembered?
"As somebody who made a difference. As somebody who made a difference for the animals, and as somebody who raised awareness."
Visit PryorsPlanet.com and RichardPryor.com for more information about Jennifer Pryor and her most worthy cause.