ANIMAL HOUSE: Humane Society in the hot seat

Animal House

The cat writers got their hackles up, if you'll pardon the mixed metaphor.

Several weeks ago, bowing to pressure from its members, as well as outraged cat breeders and some dog writers with interspecies interests, the Cat Writers Association withdrew its invitation to Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States, to be the keynote speaker at its annual conference in November.

The thanks-but-no-thanks gesture - made even more awkward by the fact that the cat group's president works for the Humane Society - is just the latest salvo of criticism aimed at the animal-welfare group.

In the aftermath of Katrina, the Humane Society has increasingly drawn the ire of purebred cat and dog fanciers (of which, for the record, I am one). E-mails regularly arrive in my mailbox titled "H$U$," suggesting the group misappropriated the $34 million it raised in response to the Gulf Coast devastation. (While its name might suggest otherwise, the Humane Society does not run any animal shelters, and last March, Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti opened an inquiry into how Humane Society funds have been used.) Other widely circulated e-mails offer Pacelle quotes that purportedly show his support for the extinction of domestic animals.

But the fur really started flying over the Humane Society's support of AB 1634, the recently defeated California bill that would require mandatory spaying and neutering of every puppy and kitten in the state. The society's support of the bill fed rumors that it was really PETA in sheep's clothing. (Faux shearling, of course.)

"The HSUS' stance on breeders frightens me, and certainly their support of the California legislation magnified that in my mind," says Chris Walkowicz, an American Kennel Club judge who is also vice president of the Dog Writers Association, though she stresses that her viewpoints are her own. "I think the HSUS isn't as radical as PETA - they aren't out there throwing paint on people's fur coats. But I do think they have a lot of the same goals - that is, no buying, no breeding until every animal is adopted, which is a Pollyanna idea."

For his part, Pacelle says that a visit to the society's Web site (humanesociety.org) or his eponymous blog (wayne

pacelle.org) demonstrates that the current bout of Humane Society bashing is sort of the Internet equivalent of road rage: Misinterpretation is rampant, and responses are overblown.

Pacelle says that while the society encourages owners to rescue a dog or cat before buying one, it recognizes that there will always be a demand for purebreds. In light of that, "responsible breeding has a secure place in the process of obtaining a pet, and we support it," he says.

But Pacelle adds that Humane Society does want to see breeding limited - fighting words to most breeders - "so that it does not surpass the total number of available households for pets, and we want to see that animals are well cared for."

As for the furor over AB 1634, Pacelle says he had no hand in formation of the bill, though the Humane Society did support it because, "on balance, we thought it was a step in the right direction."

Pacelle bristles at being taken out of context. He says the much-e-mailed "We have no problems with the extinction of domestic animals" quote was from a question lobbed to him at a farm-bureau speech 16 years ago about whether there is a moral obligation to preserve every breed of rare livestock - essentially, to create endangered species of cows.

As for financial impropriety, Pacelle says the society spent $32 million on the ground in the Gulf Coast, helping rebuild shelter infrastructure, with the remaining $2 million earmarked to create a social-marketing campaign to drive adopters to the region's hardest-hit shelters.

The most recent cat fight, Pacelle says, just comes with the territory: Revenues for the Humane Society of the United States have increased by $50 million since he took over in June 2004. "We're the big dog now, so that means people are going to scrutinize and attack us, even if there's little basis."

The way Pacelle sees it, the retracted invite was more than a canceled outing for his cat, Libby. It was, he said, a missed opportunity to find common ground - including opposition to kitty-milling and working to reduce the relinquishment of animals at shelters.

"I don't require that my audience be in complete agreement with me," says Pacelle, adding that he regularly speaks to hunting and livestocks groups, as well as to outdoors writers who hardly share his point of view. "That's the point of having dialogue - you sit down with people who have different emphasis. But I feel like this is just a monologue."

Copyright © 2007, Newsday Inc.



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