HSUS CEO has found himself in hot water

Whether I want to admit it or not, the Humane Society of the United States has been a force in animal politics. I first met Wayne Pacelle in Chicago at an animal rights convention long before he was CEO of HSUS. It was at this event that I first heard him try to convince humans that animals are people too. While speaking about his lobbying in DC, he said that dogs are now referred to as “Canine Americans.”

I must also admit that he was crafty at fleecing the public in the name of animal protection but we know it was all about the money and not about the wellbeing of animals.

How fitting is it that on Ground Hog Day 2018, Wayne Pacelle finally saw his shadow and had to retreat. Pacelle resigned from HSUS on Feb. 2 but the events of the week that led up to his resignation are quite telling and everyone needs to hear the details.

Two weeks ago, I heard the first report that Pacelle was romantically involved with one of his employees. Honestly, my first thought was “so what?” If two consenting adults agree to romance, what’s the problem? Then the avalanche began. Three other women working at HSUS came forward to say that Pacelle had sexually harassed them as well.

Those accusations led the HSUS board of directors (31 members) to hire an outside law firm (Morgan Lewis) to investigate the claims. Morgan Lewis interviewed 33 people and quickly generated a summary that stated there was a long standing pattern of Pacelle offering advancement through the ranks if sexual favors were performed. In fact, there were several accounts of females who were cut out completely if they declined.

To make matters worse for this obviously toxic culture, the No. 2 man at HSUS has been Paul Shapiro. Shapiro somewhat quietly left HSUS at the beginning of the year amid hints of sexual harassment. In fact, his favorite saying to the young ladies working there was, “You need to take one for the team.”

For those that may have never had the privilege of attending an animal rights gathering, you may not be aware of the demographic that most commonly signs up for this “cause.” They are predominantly wealthy, young white women. A perfect example is a young lady from Arizona that repeatedly had to fend off the sexual advances from the predator Shapiro as an intern but sought full employment with HSUS because she cares that much about the cause.

So let’s get back to the CEO “sex for keeping your job” Pacelle. The board, upon receiving confirmation that Pacelle had a long history of harassing employees, voted 17-9 on Feb. 1 to keep Pacelle on as CEO. With that vote, seven board members resigned their positions and their affiliation with the organization warning that supporters and donors would follow suit if Pacelle stayed on.

In a “The New York Times” article posted Feb. 2, board member Erica Brunson said the charges were “ridiculous” and then went on to say he had “done nothing wrong.” It gets even better because she then said, “Which red-blooded male hasn’t sexually harassed somebody and women should be able to take care of themselves.”

So a firm that gathers as much as $180 million annually for the “better treatment of animals” actually cares more about dogs, cats, horses, birds and pigs than they do their co-workers?

This speaks volumes to what we have been saying all along: HSUS cares more about cash than animal care. This is a culture that permeates through the history of this empire.

When Pacelle finally resigned after a social media firestorm, the HSUS board named long time employee Kitty Block to serve as the CEO. This is fitting not only because of her name but because she and her co-workers were advanced in the HSUS system in 1995 after they came forward about their superiors sexually harassing them. Obviously the culture of this organization is deeply flawed and has been for quite some time. Their mission to collect cash to fill their coffers is simply a cover-up for their real agenda, which perhaps should result in an official name change to “Have Sex U Stay.”

Editor’s note: Trent Loos is a sixth generation United States farmer, host of the daily radio show, Loos Tales, and founder of Faces of Agriculture, a non-profit organization putting the human element back into the production of food. Get more information at www.LoosTales.com, or email Trent at [email protected].