PRESS RELEASE: HSUS CEO Says It’s “Okay” for Ex-Dogfighting Kingpin Michael Vick to Own a Dog

Washington, DC – Today HumaneWatch.org, a project of the nonprofit Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF), is calling out Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) CEO Wayne Pacelle for his recent remarks at the Philadelphia Fur Ball. Pacelle reportedly proclaimed it was “okay” for convicted dog abuser Michael Vick to own another dog, stating he is “concerned about more than one dog.”

HumaneWatch.org points to the Philadelphia Eagles’ $50,000 donation to HSUS in 2009 as one possible motivation for Pacelle’s indefensible suggestion that Vick should be allowed to own more dogs. HSUS has continued its rehabilitation tour for Vick’s image after he was found guilty of unspeakable animal cruelty. In 2010, Pacelle told an Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter that Vick “would do a good job as a pet owner,” but quickly backtracked after a justified uproar from animal lovers across the country.

“It is dumbfounding that Pacelle is doubling down on his belief that a convicted animal abuser should be allowed to own another animal,” said J. Justin Wilson, CCF’s Senior Research Analyst. 

Before HSUS used Vick as an ambassador, it ran a misleading online fundraising campaign, pledging to “care for the dogs seized” at Vick’s home. Wayne Pacelle later admitted to The New York Times that HSUS was not caring for the dogs, and in fact had recommended that officials “put down” the animals. Despite HSUS’s wishes, many of those dogs have successfully been placed in new homes.

Following Vick’s alliance with HSUS, the Pennsylvania SPCA reported that animal-fighting investigations significantly spiked upward. Compared with 2008, Pennsylvania SPCA animal fighting investigations tripled in 2009, the year Vick signed with the Eagles and partnered with HSUS, and rose again in 2010. “Michael Vick in my view definitely enters into the equation,” the PSPCA’s director of investigations has stated.

“When it comes to Michael Vick, HSUS has always had its priorities in the wrong place,” said Wilson. “HSUS is successful at emotionally manipulating pet lovers to fund a big pension plan but offers little assistance to actual dogs and cats.”

For more information, visit www.HumaneWatch.org. To schedule an interview, contact Allison Miller at 202-463-7112.

The Center for Consumer Freedom is a nonprofit coalition supported by restaurants, food companies, and consumers, working together to promote personal responsibility and protect consumer choices.

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HSUS “Expertise” Slammed From the Bench

Part of the big kerfuffle over the Humane Society of the United States’ agreement with the United Egg Producers is over the notion that HSUS should have a say in how farmers go about their business. It’d be one thing for, say, a mainstream veterinary group to influence such legislation—vets are a part of the farm, too. Not only is an animal-rights group that doesn’t believe in using animals for food far from a stakeholder, however, but no one among HSUS’s leaders is even a farmer.

That, of course, doesn’t prevent HSUS from appearing in the media as if it’s some kind of expert in farming or other animal issues. Reporters want someone to call, and HSUS is happy to oblige. But thanks to a tip, we found one situation in which HSUS’s self-claimed expertise didn’t pass scrutiny.

In 2007 HSUS staffer John “J.P.” Goodwin (a man with a long arrest record) traveled to Dane County, Wisconsin to testify in an animal-fighting case. Only one small hitch: The judge wouldn’t let him testify.

Why? Because the judge found Goodwin is an activist—not a qualified expert witness. Here’s what the judge said. (Click here to read the whole back-and-forth between the lawyers for the prosecution and the defense. This judge’s ruling begins on the page numbered 148.)

I look at Mr. Goodwin’s qualifications, and it seems to me that they belong in the world of issue advocacy….[I]n looking at his qualifications, I don’t see anything in the way of training with respect to animal physiology, for example…

If I want to understand what and whether there is animal fighting constituting mistreatment in this case, I don’t think I can look to Mr. Goodwin to give me an opinion on that because he just doesn’t have the requisite expertise and training.

So there you have it. There’s a clear line between an activist and an expert.

(Interesting side note: Goodwin told the court, “We have 10 million members.” That’s just not true. HSUS has a self-claimed “constituency” that’s (now) about 11 million people, but they’re not all members.)

We’d bet this finding of non-expertise would apply to HSUS in other areas, too. Looking over HSUS’s leadership, we see plenty of longtime animal rights activists like CEO Wayne Pacelle and Michael Markarian. But we don’t see a single veterinarian. And HSUS’s board only has 2 vets out of 26 members—and one of those is a longtime fringe activist.

When you think about it, HSUS activists don’t need to be animal experts. (And in many ways they aren't.) They just need to be experts in the “conflict industry.” Judging from their ability to endlessly gin up controversy and beg for dollars, they’ve earned more than a few advanced degrees.

HSUS Supports Cockfighters?

We couldn't make this up if we tried. Our minds are nowhere near this twisted.

A reader tipped us off that the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is currently advertising on gamerooster.com, which is a website that seeks to unite "gamefowl breeders for the love of the sport and the breed." The "sport" they are referring to is the detestable practice of cockfighting.

Wayne Pacelle, HSUS's CEO, regularly lies that HumaneWatch is funded by and supports cockfighters. That's a lie, and Pacelle was put on legal notice of it in 2010. 

You know what isn't a lie? HSUS is supporting cockfighters by advertising on their websites. (Click the image enlarge.)

By the way, you might be wondering what HSUS’s banner ad links to. We clicked on it, and it goes to an HSUS donation page.

In other words, HSUS is apparently all too happy to take money from cockfighting supporters. So, Wayne Pacelle, how much money has HSUS made from this ad?

Okay, okay—this is mostly tongue-in-cheek and probably an unintentional oversight that HSUS’s online advertising team is quickly correcting (as soon as they read this post!). We have no idea what HSUS is targeting with its ads, but we were able to independently verify the ads. If you can't see the ads, it could be because they aren't targeting your demographic or geographic location (or a variety of other ways Google allows advertisers target their ads).

Here are a few more examples from "gamefowl" or "cocker" websites around the web:

The Visual HSUS, Part 7

Today we’re releasing the seventh entry in our “Visual HSUS” series. (Hopefully, we’ll have as many entries as HSUS CEO Wayne Pacelle has book-tour stops.) Follow the links to view past entries: [1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6]

The latest visual is a timeline of HSUS’s controversial relationship with convicted dogfighting kingpin Michael Vick. Many animal lovers felt betrayed when HSUS agreed to work with Vick following his release from prison. But the partnership between Pacelle and Vick bloomed to the point where Pacelle said last winter he thinks Vick “would do a good job as a pet owner.” Many folks were outraged, and with good reason.

But the disturbing “bond” between the duo is Act Two of a sordid play. When Vick was first indicted, HSUS raised money on the promise to “care for” the animals seized. But just two weeks later, Pacelle told a newspaper that HSUS didn’t know where the animals were, and that HSUS was in fact recommending the animals be killed. (Many of the dogs have since been rehabilitated.)

What’s next for this dynamic duo? We weep for the future.

No Vick-tory for Animals

Last week, Humane Society of the United States CEO Wayne Pacelle made yet another public appearance with convicted dogfighting kingpin Michael Vick. This time, the duo appeared on Capitol Hill to promote federal legislation. (HSUS does a lot of lobbying, if you didn’t know.)

While HSUS teams up with Vick to promote a national bill, could a national spike in dogfighting be around the corner?

HSUS’s Wayne Pacelle: “I was misquoted”

You might remember that Humane Society of the United States CEO Wayne Pacelle caused widespread outrage among mainstream animal lovers in December when he told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that convicted dogfighting kingpin Michael Vick “would do a good job as a pet owner.”

The biggest news was that Pacelle, the tel-evangelical leader who tries so hard to put a moderate façade over the wealthy HSUS’s radical animal rights agenda, let it slip how out-of-the-mainstream he really is.  He quickly backtracked, acting as if what he really meant was that it’s “too soon” for Vick to own a pet again. But this week, he went a step further, now saying he “was misquoted.”

True or false? We contacted the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter and asked him if he stood by his quote.

His reply? “I did quote him saying that. We have not corrected the story nor have we had any requests to correct it.”

Apparently when Pacelle appeared on CNN and in other media in December and January to spin his defense of Vick, he didn’t realize he had been “misquoted.” Only now, five months later, is this his defense. And this isn’t the first time Pacelle has had trouble keeping his story straight.

More Dogfighting in Philly? More Questions for HSUS

Early last week the Pennsylvania SPCA and Philadelphia police conducted three separate raids to bust up what officials called “the largest dogfighting ring they’ve ever seen.”

Watch a brief segment from the news coverage here, and then ask yourself a question: Has Michael Vick’s return to professional football as the Philadelphia Eagles’ quarterback made dogfighting “cool” in Philly?

The evidence suggests an unflattering picture for the Humane Society of the United States (not affiliated with “humane society” pet shelters) and its CEO Wayne Pacelle, whose effort to rehabilitate Michael Vick’s public image following his prison term has been controversial (to put it mildly).

After Vick’s release, he partnered with HSUS for a speaking tour to criticize dogfighting, which—in Pacelle’s defense—may have seemed like a good idea at the time.

But the consequences speak for themselves. Compared with 2008, Pennsylvania SPCA animal fighting investigations tripled in 2009, the year Vick signed with the Eagles. Most of these were dogfighting-related cases in Philadelphia.

Trotting Michael Vick out like a trained pony is a far cry from actually doing something for the hands-on groups (like the Pennsylvania SPCA) that have to deal with the fallout from Vick’s public re-branding.

Perhaps “Bonding” with a dogfighting kingpin wasn’t such a humane idea.