SHORT TAKES : Activists Picket Fur Shoppers

Game show host Bob Barker, joined by 2,500 animal rights activists, marched down New York City’s Fifth Avenue today telling holiday shoppers the price is always wrong when you’re buying fur.

Barker, the host of “The Price Is Right,” led the marchers for the second straight year past chic shops in midtown Manhattan during the fourth annual “Fur-Free Friday” event.

In Miami, vandals painted over a fur storage company’s windows. Protests were scheduled in cities around the country on the opening day of the holiday shopping season.

In New York, standing behind Barker was Gary Kaskel of Manhattan, who walked with his two pet fitch ferrets, which are related to minks and often used for furs.

“It’s a good image to let people see the animals alive,” said Kaskel, petting the animals. “People don’t see the animals in the traps, so you have to let ‘em see them alive, see how sweet they are.”