Pacelle Speaks at UGA for Book Tour

"Cruelty cannot be confined; kindness cannot be confined either. They radiate out. That's why it is incredibly important to always try and take the route of kindness." -Wayne Pacelle

I had the pleasure this past week to see Wayne Pacelle, President and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, speak at the University of Georgia during his book tour. His speech touched on topics he probes in his new book, The Bond: OurKinship with Animals, Our Call to Defend Them.

Pacelle began by talking about the situation in Ohio where 48 exotic species, including lions, tigers, bears and wolves, were let out into the community by their owner who then took his own life. The animals had to be tracked down and killed by law enforcement. This is just one horrific example of why HSUS is working hard to push legislators to take the protection of all animals more seriously. This man, who had a criminal record, should never have been allowed to have these animals as “pets” in the first place (nor should anyone else). However, with the illegal pet trade and Ohio’s lack of laws prohibiting it, he was able to keep a personal collection of dangerous animals in his home. This man not only put himself in danger (and gave these poor animals no life for wild animals), but he put his entire community in danger.

People think that animal welfare is a confined to a small bubble of “cat people” or “dog people,” but in reality, it’s a cause that radiates into so many facets of everyone’s lives around the world. It flows over into our daily meals, violent crimes, environmental protection, public health, and our own health. Think about these points that demonstrate just a few of the connections to other aspects of our lives:

1.     Compassion and empathy toward animals is directly connected to the way children learn to communicate with our peers, starting from a very young age. This is where humane education comes in—some children first learn how to express their emotions by interacting with animals, which translates into their interactions with people. There’s quite a bit of research to support the positive effects of humane education, including reduced violent behavior later in life.

2.     That leads us into the next connection between animal cruelty and other serious, violent crimes. For example, when emergency personnel respond to animal cruelty situations like dog-fighting rings, there are usually drugs and weapons present, as well. They tend to go hand in hand. Another example of this connection is that domestic violence perpetrators often beat, torture and/or kill family pets. And we’ve all heard that one of the early signs of serial killers and violent criminals begins at a young age with violence toward animals.

3.     Most of us don’t see the connection of violence and animals in our daily lives, but we do eat every day. We are the biggest meat eaters in the world, by far. Ten billion, yes billion, animals are slaughtered each year in just the United States alone. In one slaughterhouse in North Carolina, 42,000 animals are killed every day. It’s hard for me to wrap my head around these numbers, even after several days of thinking about it. And these animals are packed into such small spaces their entire lives that they can’t even move or stand up. This is where the large majority of our meat supply comes from. If we could just cut our meat intake by at least 10%, which wouldn’t be that hard, we could start to make a dent in this industry focused on financial gain rather than making these animals comfortable and happy until they meet their ends.

Animal welfare isn’t just confined to an American cause. As Pacelle reminds us, we as humans have an inherent bond with Mother Nature and animals that transcends all cultures, and has done so for thousands of years. We can’t ignore this bond—we must begin to make daily choices that positively affect our animal counterparts.

So many people use the excuse that their contributions don’t make a difference in the big scheme of things, but in reality, our choices do make a difference. Pacelle spoke about how our country’s history is littered with social change that began by people saying, “that’s just the way it is—no one’s going to be able to do anything about it.” He used examples of women’s suffrage and even slavery to get this point across. The citizens out west and up north assumed they’d never be able to change the ways of the south, but guess what—people came together and began making choices to do something about it.

Our country still has strides to make for improved civil rights, but Pacelle urges us to take on animal protection as our new social movement. I’m on board with Pacelle, and I hope you will be, too. It only takes a few choices every day to really make a difference. Report animal cruelty. Eat less meat products. Talk to people about how to be responsible pet owners. Encourage your children to be kind to their pets. Buy products that aren’t tested on animals. Opt to buy faux fur and faux leather this winter. The list goes on…. What new choices will you make today?