Wayne Pacelle, 51, is president and chief executive of the Humane Society of the United States. He lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland. He moved from Washington, D.C., to have full representation.
Q. You know how cats are jerks?
A. Well, my cat is a jerk. She tries to sleep on my neck when I’m trying to sleep. She also was weaned too early and she bites a lot. They’re love bites, but she has very sharp teeth.
Q. A controversial thing you’ve done is meet with Michael Vick after he got out of jail, embracing him.
A. This was a teaching moment for the animal protection movement. This man did something terrible, served his time, and then when he came out he wanted to help animals. That’s the way it’s supposed to work. We want people and institutions to evolve. We were a lily-white movement for the most part, and Michael Vick, as a star quarterback, if he went around and spoke to school kids and said how terrible dogfighting is, that could prevent thousands of young kids from going down that path. It would prevent so much more cruelty. You want people who did the wrong thing to do the right thing. If we don’t embrace change, then what’s the purpose of our work? It was a textbook example of how you run a campaign.
Q. It seems counterintuitive.
A. We celebrate progress, not perfection. Everyone is participating in the use of animals on some level. Even if you’re a vegan, you’re flying on a plane and you’re driving in a car. Planes hit birds. There are hundreds of millions of animals killed by cars every year. Everything we do has an impact. It’s really about doing our best to minimize it. Focusing just on preaching to the choir is not what it’s about.
Q. There’s a theory that people named Wayne are overrepresented among murderers. Were you the only Wayne at Yale?
A. I can’t think of another Wayne. I think that my parents were going to name me Joshua. My siblings apparently rebelled for whatever reason, and the consensus alternative was Wayne.
Q. Among your siblings? You could have done worse.
A. I think John Wayne was pretty big at the time. It was well before Lil Wayne.
Q. Are there humane concerns about insects and fish, if they’re raised for food?
A. I think fish, definitely. They have a central nervous system. Insects is a bridge too far for me. That’s for the next generation to figure out. This is a homocentric cause: We are valuing the characteristics of animals that are similar to humans. But I certainly trap and free spiders in my home.
Q. A lot of your work involves convincing the CEOs of, say, SeaWorld or McDonald’s to change how their companies do business. You have a pet-friendly office; Lily the beagle-mix here has been observing this whole interview. Please tell me what to say to Jeff Bezos (Amazon founder, owner of The Washington Post) so he’ll let us have office dogs.
A. It makes employees happier. They save money on doggy day care, they work longer hours because they don’t have to go home to walk the dog. As an extraordinary businessperson, Bezos should recognize the value of this benefit for the company.
