WASHINGTON — The new watchdog of the animal kingdom has critics fretting. They warn that behind his John Kennedy Jr. good looks, gentle manner and boyish charm is a teeth-baring dogmatist whose hidden agenda is a scary brand of doctrinaire animal rights that for mainstream Americans would make "humane" feel like the food chain turned upside down.
Strong accusations. Wayne Pacelle, new president of the Humane Society of the United States, just grins. "They all go wild on me," he says, adding that he has even received death threats. "My ex-boss
Pacelle vows to be "more aggressive" in pursuing the HSUS' goals -- stopping mistreatment of livestock, decreasing the use of animals in research, protecting wildlife and fostering responsible pet care -- but says he's a "reformist" and "not an abolitionist."
He's the guardian angel of animals, he says, not a misanthrope out to liberate all beasts at all costs.
What is it about Pacelle that has critics so astir?
At the HSUS building in downtown Washington, Pacelle's corner office is streaming with sunlight. Dressed in a crisp teal suit, he looks more like a 38-year-old corporate Turk than a rabble-rousing activist. On his organized desk are pulpy cockfighting magazines arranged like the courtroom evidence they might become if Pacelle has his way.
"Look at it -- 112 pages! Ads for fighting birds!" says Pacelle, disgusted as he pages through Gamecock Magazine, one of three national monthly publications of the largely underground business.
A champion killer bird graces the cover. Most pages are advertising -- breeders and dealers nationwide selling "game birds" ("$1,500 a trio") and accessories such as razor-sharp gaffs that strap to their legs, and drugs that thicken the blood to delay the birds' bleeding to death.
Cockfighting is the kind of brazen animal abuse that ranks high on Pacelle's to-do list.
"Most people think that cockfighting and dogfighting are relics of past times," he says. But cockfighting is still legal in Louisiana and New Mexico, and Pacelle estimates that there are more than 100,000 cockfighters and tens of thousands of dogfighters in this country. "This is a barbaric and inhumane activity, and these people need to get a new hobby."
