Wayne Pacelle | |
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 Pacelle reading at theGaithersburg Book Festival in 2016 | |
| Born | (1965-08-04)August 4, 1965 (age 60) New Haven, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Education | Yale University, (B.A. inhistory andenvironmental studies, 1987) |
| Occupations | Animal activist, former non-profit businessperson, author |
| Years active | 1989–present |
| Known for | Animal activism, serving as the former CEO of theHumane Society of the United States, and authoring twoNew York Times bestsellers |
| Notable work |
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| Spouses | |
Wayne Pacelle (born August 4, 1965) is an Americananimal rights andanimal welfare activist, non-profit businessperson and author. Two of his books have beenNew York Times best-sellers. He has led dozens of winning ballot measures on animal protection, shepherded to passage dozens of federal bills into law, and negotiated hundreds of agreements with corporations – from securing pledges from all major global athletic wear brands to stop sourcing kangaroos, to negotiating agreements with major fashion companies to stop selling fur, to securing pledges from McDonald's and other companies to stop sourcing eggs and pork from producers that rely on housing systems utilizing small cages and crates.[1][2][3]
Pacelle is the president and founder of Animal Wellness Action, a 501(c)(4) organization that promotes legal standards against cruelty and he is also the founder and president of the Center for a Humane Economy, a 501(c)(3) organization that urges businesses to adopt animal-friendly practices when it comes to their supply chains, research and development, and other operations.[4][5] He was the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of theHumane Society of the United States (HSUS). Pacelle took office June 1, 2004, after serving for nearly 10 years as the organization's chief lobbyist and spokesperson. Pacelle resigned as CEO on February 2, 2018, after he was accused ofsexual harassment by several former employees. Pacelle denied these accusations, and the board voted overwhelmingly to retain him as president and CEO. [6] After leaving the head role at HSUS for 14 years, he immediately formed Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy and has grown those organizations into formidable players on national animal welfare policy.[7]
Pacelle was born inNew Haven, Connecticut, of Greek and Italian descent. His parents are Richard L. Pacelle Sr., and Patricia Pacelle.[8][9] Pacelle is the youngest of four children; his older brother, Richard L. Pacelle Jr., is a political science professor atThe University of Tennessee.[10] Growing up in New Haven, Pacelle enjoyed reading natural history and developed an early concern about the mistreatment of animals. He attendedNotre Dame High School and graduated with degrees in history and environmental studies fromYale University. His activism led to his appointment in 1989, at age 23, as Executive Director of The Fund for Animals; an organization founded byCleveland Amory.[11]
While working at the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), Pacelle secured the passage of dozens offederal statutes and amendments to protect animals, including laws to increase penalties for harming law enforcement animals, protect great apes in their native habitats protections for great apes, sharks, and big cats, elevated punishments for animal fighting, mandated accurate labels for fur, and other legal victories.[citation needed] Pacelle has testified beforeU.S. House andSenate committees on a wide variety ofanimal protection issues, includingfarm animal welfare including calls for increased funding for theAnimal Welfare Act and efforts to ban cockfighting, dogfighting, and other harmful practices.[citation needed]
Pacelle launched more thanthree dozensuccessful statewide ballot initiatives to protect animals, including measures to prohibit cockfighting and mourning dove hunting, restrict steel traps and certain poisons, halting bear baiting and hound hunting of bears and other wildlife, and restricting extreme confinement of laying hens, breeding sows, and veal calves.[12] He has been vocal in criticizing individuals and groups who he says resort to intimidation, vandalism, or violence.[11]
Under Pacelle's direction, the HSUS secured the adoption of "cage-free" egg-purchasing policies by several hundred universities and corporations;[13] the phase-out ofgestation crates by key pork producers nationwide;[14] the exposure of an international trophy hunting scam;[15] successful congressional votes and litigation to end horse slaughter; and an agreement from theUnited States Department of Agriculture to begin enforcement of federal laws concerning the transportation of farm animals.[citation needed]
In early 2008, the HSUS's investigation of animal treatment at theHallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company sparked the largest beef recall in American history and congressional calls for reform of the slaughterhouse inspection system.[16] In late February 2008, Pacelle testified on thedowner cow issue before a subcommittee of the Senate Agriculture Committee on a panel with USDA SecretaryEdward Schafer.[17]
Two November 2006 ballot initiatives conducted with HSUS's support outlawed dove hunting in Michigan and abusive farming practices in Arizona. In January, 2007, several months after passage of the Arizona ballot measure,Smithfield Foods, the largest pork producer in the world, announced that it would phase out the use ofgestation crates that immobilize pregnant sows through confinement.[18] Maple Leaf Foods, Canada's largest pork producer and the Strauss Veal company also followed suit.[19]
In 2011, Pacelle and Chad Gregory of theUnited Egg Producers (UEP) agreed to work together in support of federal hen welfare legislation. This agreement expired in 2013 after the bill supported by the UEP and The HSUS failed to pass.[20]
In March 2016, Pacelle andSeaWorld CEOJoel Manby agreed to cooperate on several issues of mutual concern, and SeaWorld agreed to phase out its use of orca whales in performance, to end breeding of captive orcas, and to implement reforms including the introduction of humanely raised products to menus at SeaWorld's theme parks.[21]
Pacelle is a cofounder of the Humane Society Legislative Fund (HSLF), a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization that lobbies for animal welfare legislation and works to elect humane-minded candidates to public office. He also cofounded Humane USA, a nonpartisan political action committee (PAC) that supports candidates of any political party based on their support for animal protection. These two organizations helped defeat lawmakers in Congress they consider hostile to animals, including Rep.Chris John of Louisiana, Rep.Richard Pombo of California, and SenatorConrad Burns of Montana.[22]
The HSUS experienced major growth since 2004, primarily as a result of corporate combinations Pacelle forged with The Fund for Animals in 2005 and theDoris Day Animal League in 2006. During the first 30 months of Pacelle's tenure, overall revenues and expenditures grew by more than 50 percent. HSUS's annual budget for 2006 was $103 million. The organization claims nearly 10 million members and constituents.[23] By the time he left the organization in 2018, annual revenues hadsoared to $225 million, and he grew the asset base of the organization five-fold.
Since leaving HSUS, Pacelle founded Animal Wellness Action,[24] a 501(c)(4) organization that does lobbying and political work, and Animal Wellness Action PAC, which does non-partisan giving to candidates who support animal welfare. AWA helped oust Rep.Pete Sessions, R-Texas, in the November 2018 election and also Rep. Dana Rohrbacher, D-Calif., whom Pacelle indicated had been hostile to animal welfare issues during their long congressional careers. The organization has worked since its inception in 2018 to help pass a dozen federal laws to advance animal welfare: the Parity in Animal Cruelty Enforcement Act,[25] the Pet and Women's Safety Act,[26] theDog and Cat Meat Trade Prohibition Act, the Rescuing Animals With Rewards Act,[27] the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act,[25] theHorseracing Integrity and Safety Act,[28] and the FDA Modernization Act 2.0.[29] Animal Wellness Action and its partner organizations defended the Congressional bans on animal fighting in the U.S. territories in the federal courts, parrying challenges from cockfighting interests in Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. He's worked to draw attention to illegal animal fighting in those territories and to stop illegal trafficking of fighting animals.[30] The organization was also instrumental in passing Amendment 13 in Florida to ban greyhound racing.[31] That measure, approved with 69 percent to 31 percent in November 2018 shuttered all 12 Florida greyhound tracks by the close of 2020. The organization has recently influenced new federal legislation targeting cockfighting and animal fighting, in the form of the Fighting Inhumane Gambling and High-Risk Trafficking Act,[32] which has more than800 endorsing agencies and organizations
The Center for a Humane Economy[33] focuses on improving the way corporations treat animals. It has launched a "Kangaroos Are Not Shoes" campaign to demand that Nike, adidas, and other athletic shoe companies stop buying kangaroo skins to make soccer cleats.[34] Dozens of stores in California have stopped selling these shoes, and the campaign continues. The organization has other campaigns that including "Banning Greyhound Racing" and "Ending Torture in Testing," focused on ending U.S. Food and Drug Administration requirements for animal testing for all new drug development.[citation needed]
The HSUS has faced criticism from various groups during Pacelle's tenure, including theCenter for Consumer Freedom, which receives money from the food industry, andProtect the Harvest, which is funded by oilmanForrest Lucas.[citation needed]
In 2018,Chronicle of Philanthropy reported that Pacelle was under investigation for a "sexual relationship with an employee".[35] In December 2018 HSUS launched an internal investigation, hiring the law firmMorgan, Lewis & Bockius to investigate three separate allegations ofsexual harassment.[36]The New York Times subsequently reported on an interview with a Humane Society employee who alleges Pacellesexually assaulted her in his office.[37] Pacelle has denied each allegation. The investigation also included female leaders who allegedly said their "warnings about his conduct went unheeded."[38][39] The HSUS voted at the end of January 2018 to retain Pacelle as CEO, prompting seven board members to resign in protest.[40] Other donors threatened to sever ties with the organization, insisting that Pacelle should resign instead. Donors like the Greenbaum Foundation, which donated nearly $100,000 to the HSUS in 2017, claimed they would likely stop funding the HSUS because of the board's handling of the allegations against Pacelle. Other donors such as Nicole Brodeur had stopped providing funding when allegations came to light in October 2017.[41] Facing internal and external dissent, Pacelle resigned on February 2, 2018.[42]
Some defended Pacelle's placement as CEO. The Washington Post's Kathleen Parker offered support in the wake of Pacelle's resignation, claiming that it was not necessarily the best "for the organization he built or the animals it has served..." and thanked Pacelle for his "stewardship, advocacy and legendary work ethic." She added "No person is all one thing, good or bad, and Pacelle is no exception."[43] Other affiliates of the organization supported Pacelle's resignation, claiming that the HSUS board had put Pacelle's fundraising abilities above concerns for other employees in their evaluation of the evidence against Pacelle. Iowa director Josh Skipworth claimed that it was "ridiculous to put the business outlook over the female employees" in the board's original decision to retain Pacelle as CEO.[44] In March 2018,The Washington Post reported on the aftermath of Pacelle's resignation; the article details additional allegations of sexual harassment and assault involving Pacelle.[45]
The Center for Consumer Freedom has criticized Pacelle for holding animal rights views, arguing, "When Wayne Pacelle took over, it ceased being an animal welfare group and suddenly became an animal rights group."[46]Under Pacelle, HSUS created state agriculture advisory councils. Members of the agriculture councils have criticized the direction of HSUS, arguing that the agriculture councils' influence has waned while more radical elements of HSUS have gained influence. One Nebraska rancher and spokesperson for the agriculture councils claimed that Pacelle allowed HSUS to become a "good ol' boys vegan club."[47]
Nathan Winograd, a leader of theno-kill movement seeking to end most euthanasia in animal shelters, has been a critic of Pacelle, saying, "We have learned what we can expect under Mr. Pacelle's tenure. Platitudes, cliches, rhetoric, pretty words. But we cannot expect solutions."[46]
Pacelle was formerly married to the American singerKirsten Rosenberg.[48] Since 2013, he has been married to TV journalistLisa Fletcher.[49] Pacelle has a dog, named Lily.[50]
Pacelle has been the subject of profiles by theNew York Times Magazine (2008), theLos Angeles Times (2008),The New York Times (2007),The Wall Street Journal (2006),The Washington Post (2004),Newsweek (2007), and other major publications. In 2014, he was named one of the Non-Profit Times' "Power and Influence Top 50." The citation read, "He has played a role in the passage of more than two-dozen federal statutes and 26 successful statewide ballot initiatives, which is why he is a punching bag for puppy mills and pseudo-PR firms that profit from animal cruelty."[51]
For his management of HSUS's response toHurricane Katrina,The NonProfit Times named Pacelle "Executive of the Year" (2005).[52] In 2008, Pacelle also received a Special Achievement Award for Humanitarian Service from theNational Italian American Foundation.[53] The same year,Supermarket News named Pacelle one of its "Power 50", citing his leadership onfarm animal welfare issues.[54]
In 2018, Pacelle was noted in the bookRescuing Ladybugs by author and animal advocateJennifer Skiff as having "arguably orchestrated more positive legal change for animals than any human being in modern times, during the period he was head of theHumane Society of the United States (HSUS) from 2004 to 2018."[55]
The Humane Economy
Pacelle, Wayne (April 19, 2016).The Humane Economy:How Innovators and Enlightened Consumers are Transforming the Lives of Animals.New York City:William Morrow.ISBN 978-0-06-238964-0.In The Humane Economy he describes how "capitalism at its best" is a force against animal suffering, "applying human creativity to answer the demands of a morally informed market."
The book was on theNew York Times,Washington Post, andLos Angeles Times best-seller lists.[56]
The Bond
Pacelle, Wayne (April 1, 2011).The Bond: Our Kinship with Animals, Our Call to Defend Them.New York City:William Morrow.ISBN 978-0-06-196978-2. RetrievedApril 11, 2011.As harsh as nature is for animals, cruelty comes only from human hands. We are the creature of conscience, aware of the wrongs we do and fully capable of making things right. Our best instincts will always tend in that direction, because a bond with animals is built into every one of us.
The book was on theNew York Times best-seller list.[57]
In addition toThe Humane Economy andThe Bond, Pacelle has contributed to the following books:
[T]his is truly a narrative of introspection, personal adjustment, and love. It centers on Jay, but critical to the story is his wife, his two children, Lava, his fellow service members, and his Marine Corps.(From the Foreword byWayne Pacelle.)
He and his brother, Richard Pacelle Jr., chair of theUniversity of Tennessee Department of Political Science, co-authored a paper on the legislative history of animal fighting in Society & Animals, an academic journal focused on human-animal studies.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)The head of the U.S. Humane Society has retooled the organization from a mild-mannered protector of dogs and cats into an aggressive group flexing its muscle on behalf of all animals.
I want to thank my parents, Patricia and Richard Sr., for all of their constant love, support, guidance, and encouragement.
Between 1990 and 2008, animal advocates squared off against factory farmers, hunters, and other animal industries in 41 statewide ballot campaigns, winning in 28 campaigns and marking a huge surge in the use of the process on animal issues.
The issue came to lawmakers' attention after the Humane Society of the United States conducted a two-year investigation into a scam where they said hunters shot rare animals from around the world, then donated them to phony museums in order to get charitable tax deductions.
The Humane Society targeted both in last year's elections afterEhrlich supported bear hunting andPombo supported commercial whaling and trapping in wildlife refuges.
One would think that a membership roster of 9.5 million would make a special interest group quite special on Capitol Hill, but the Humane Society of the United States wants more firepower.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)Pacelle's wife, Kirsten Rosenberg, works for...
The anchor is taking two weeks off this month to get married at a friend's house in California.
Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society, came to the podium to receive a NIAF Special Achievement Award in Humanitarian Service, presented by fellow Connecticut native and friend, U.S. RepresentativeRosa De Lauro.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)| International | |
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