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Wayne
was only four years old when Pericles, the family dog, was run over
and killed on the street in front of his home. The boy heard the
screeching tires and the dog’s piercing cries of pain.
Two
years after Pericle’s death, Wayne’s parents purchased
a puppy from a backyard breeder.
Brandy
was kept indoors, that is, until she became too big and rambunctious.
She was chained outside and given a doghouse with a bed of hay.
The family didn’t like chaining Brandy, but they wanted to
keep her safe and away from the street. A typical Labrador/golden
retriever mix, Brandy was good natured and endured the boredom of
living at the end of a chain for years. When the weather turned
especially cold they brought her in for the night, but for the most
part, she stayed in her doghouse through all kinds of weather.
Wayne
and Brandy grew up together. They went on walks through the neighborhood
and occasionally played ball in the park across the street. By the
time Wayne was preparing for college, Brandy was thirteen and in
failing health so she was brought indoors to live out her final
days. When the end came, Wayne held Brandy in his arms as the vet
inserted the needle and the gentle, black dog slipped away.
From
his earliest years, Wayne felt a deep empathy for animals. In the
22 years since Brandy’s passing, he has come to understand
the special connection we share with the animal kingdom.
“I
really regret that I was not more educated about animals and their
care,” Wayne said as he reflected on his childhood dogs with
affection and sadness. “Despite an incredible attachment and
sensitivity to animals, we still made wrong decisions—let Pericles
roam freely, bought Brandy from a breeder we knew nothing about
when there were so many fine, healthy dogs with rescue groups and
in shelters. I’m sure Brandy was lonely, frustrated and very
cold or very hot and uncomfortable and did not want to be tethered.
We exhibited a lack of understanding and knowledge at that time.
We did things that did not meet basic standards of care.”
Wayne
chose to make a difference and built a career around a passion to
protect animals—working to enlighten and educate the public,
fostering aide and shelter, and fighting for stronger federal and
state laws.
“Animals
have the same spark of life, the same will to live. It is a matter
of helping the most powerless—of providing a better life for
animals that have no ulterior motive,” he explains.
Animal
cruelty is not limited to backyard chaining or overcrowded, unsanitary
puppy mills. Nor is it limited to bloodsports where unsavory people
get a thrill out of watching animals tear each other apart. There
is a massive exploitation of animals as commodities that has reached
some surprising places. It is rare to find a farm today with pigs
lazing around in pens or chickens roaming freely through the barnyard.
Many of today’s factory farm animals eat, sleep, eliminate,
birth and nurse their young all in the same crate. The poultry industry
has manipulated the genetics of the modern turkey so dramatically
birds cannot stand up or walk. Laying hens are crammed together
so tight, they are unable to turn around or extend their wings.
And some slaughterhouses dismember animals while they are still
conscious.
Canned
hunting is a relatively new sport in which farm-raised animals or
birds are released for armchair hunters to pick off as they pass.
This year, one entrepreneur fashioned a form of hunting which enables
their clients to log on to an Internet site to ‘hunt’
big game on the computer screen while the actual animal is felled
in a ‘killing field’ hundreds of miles away.
But
in every community across America there are people working tirelessly
and without fanfare to make life better for all the animals who
share the earth with us. Like Wayne, they are heroes fighting for
respect and concern for animals with the common goal to ensure kindness
and mercy triumph over customs, selfishness and greed.
“People
make choices every day that have enormous implications for animals
by opting to purchase food and products that are not produced in
a way that causes cruelty. In addition to voting with our dollars
to promote humane treatment, we also need to vote on election days
and opt for candidates who demonstrate a concern for animals.”
While
Wayne has a strong set of views, he remains understanding and tolerant
of cultures and circumstances that shape people’s responses.
“I
believe most people have an instinctive bond and sensitivity toward
animals but are not aware their actions may cause harm. They need
to be shown a better course of action.”
No
one understands that better than Wayne Pacelle. The boy who once
chained his dog now leads the nation’s largest animal protection
organization, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).
For
information on how you can help stop animal cruelty, log on to the
HSUS website at www.hsus.org. Contact the author or view other animal
tales at www.animaltails.org.
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