A full-page ad by HumaneWatch.org in Thursday’s USA Today addresses Wayne Pacelle’s support of Michael Vick owning a dog after running a dogfighting ring in 2007.
The ad calls attention to the NFL quarterback’s time in prison for crimes related to dogfighting and questions the $50,000 Wayne Pacelle, President of the Humane Society of the United States, received from Vick’s employer.
HSUS took advantage of the publicity when Vick was arrested five years ago. The group’s fundraising efforts to “care for the dogs seized” at Vick’s home launched less than 24 hours after Vick was arrested in 2007. Pacelle later admitted to The New York Times that HSUS was not caring for the dogs.
Pacelle told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Vick “would do a good job as a pet owner.” HumaneWatch.org disagrees with Pacelle’s stance on the issue.
“It is dumbfounding that HSUS President Wayne Pacelle, who writes on his deep ‘bond’ with animals, would support and defend a convicted dogfighter who has helped commit horrible atrocities against defenseless animals,” said Rick Berman, CCF's Executive Director. “When it comes to Michael Vick, HSUS has always had its priorities in the wrong place.”
A release from HumaneWatch.org says tens of millions of the HSUS’ annual budget funds a staff of 700, dozens of lawyers, and a bloated executive pension plan and only one percent of its budget assisting with hands-on pet shelters.
The last line of the ad says HSUS is not associated with local animal shelters.
Source: Argentine Beef Packers S.A.
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