Seven of the 31 members of the board of the Humane Society of the United States, one of the best-known animal welfare groups in the country, resigned in protest of the board’s decision to keep Wayne Pacelle as the group’s chief executive, said the Washington Post. An internal investigation commissioned by the board “identified three complaints of sexual harassment against him” and confirmed that settlements had been offered to three other workers who said they were demoted or fired after reporting Pacelle’s actions.
“The decision to keep Pacelle in his job and close the investigation against him defied demands by major donors for the Humane Society to cut its ties with the longtime chief executive — or risk losing their support,” said the Post. Some donors and supporters “called for Pacelle to be fired this week and questioned why he remained in charge of the charity during the inquiry.” Pacelle, who has led the HSUS since 2004, denied the allegations in an interview with the Post. “This is a coordinated attempt to attack me and the organization,” he said.
The HSUS has won a series of state-level campaigns against the use of “battery” cages for hens, sow crates, and veal-calf stalls, practices that closely confine the animals. Its latest victory was a successful statewide referendum in Massachusetts in 2016 to ban those practices and to require that products brought into the state come from farms where animals have enough room to stand up, sit down, turn around, and fully extend their limbs.
Last week, the HSUS announced that the internal investigation was under way. The board’s decision on Pacelle was not immediately posted on the HSUS website.
Separately, the HSUS proclaimed victory in a lawsuit against the producer-funded National Pork Board. A federal court judge in Washington told the board to stop “millions of dollars” of payments to the National Pork Producers Council for purchase of the trademarked slogan “Pork: The Other White Meat.” The HSUS said the payments diverted so-called checkoff funds to a lobbying group “that was harmful to animals and responsible family farmers alike.”