He was a television icon and a great animal advocate who had a connection to Minnesota.

“The Price is Right” host Bob Barker died over the weekend at the age of 99.

Barker was a large donor to The Wildcat Sanctuary, a nonprofit big cat rescue in Sandstone. The sanctuary even named a building in honor of Barker for his contributions.

“Over the years, Bob Barker has donated about $400,000 to our mission here at the sanctuary to build habitats and the buildings for the cats here,” Tammy Thies, founder of The Wildcat Sanctuary, said. “We knew the time was coming, we just wish it wasn’t so soon.”

Barker’s trademark at the end of every show was to say, “Help control the pet population, have your pet spayed or neutered.”