Puppy Power:
How Humane Society
Gets the Vote Out

Animal Welfare Is the Issue,
Not the Candidate's Party;
Loaded for Bear Hunters

By BRODY MULLINS
November 7, 2006

DUBLIN, Calif. -- Wayne Pacelle marched up to a
one-story house here last week, hoping to persuade the
two Republicans inside to vote against incumbent
Republican Rep. Richard Pombo.

"Beware of dog," read a nearby sign as Mr. Pacelle
knocked on the front door. Suddenly, a pit bull
charged from inside the house. Mr. Pacelle stumbled
backward. The dog slammed into the door. A screen was
all that separated the growling beast from the chief
executive officer of the Humane Society of the United
States.

"I may be with the Humane Society, but I prefer little
dogs when I'm canvassing," said the 41-year-old Mr.
Pacelle. For Mr. Pacelle, the pit bull is just one
snarling obstacle in his path toward transforming the
nation's largest group of pet lovers into a ferocious
force in congressional elections. Call it puppy power
at the polls.

For the first time in its 50-year history, the Humane
Society is trying to elect candidates to Congress who
support its animal-welfare agenda. After a series of
mergers with other animal-welfare groups, the Humane
Society counts 10 million Americans as members, an
average of 23,000 in each of the 435 House districts.
That's more than twice the membership of the National
Rifle Association, which is considered one of the most
effective single-issue campaign organizations.

More important, the Humane Society's motivating issue
-- the promotion of animal welfare -- resonates with
the white suburban women who could be the key block of
voters who decide this election.

The Humane Society isn't campaigning for just one
political party. Sen. Rick Santorum, a Republican from
Pennsylvania, won its support this year for
championing federal funding for animal-protection
programs. Virginia Republican Sen. George Allen was
endorsed for introducing legislation to require
bitter-tasting antifreeze to discourage pets from
lapping up spills.

In the House, the Humane Society is campaigning for
several Republicans in close races, including Reps.
John Sweeney of New York and Christopher Shays of
Connecticut. Mr. Sweeney, who represents Saratoga's
race track, pushed legislation through the House to
ban the slaughter of horses for human consumption.

Among Republicans the Humane Society is targeting are
Montana's Sen. Conrad Burns, who opposed Mr. Sweeney's
horse-slaughter bill in the Senate, Rep. Heather
Wilson of New Mexico and Mr. Pombo of California.

The Humane Society has endorsed more than 300
candidates for Congress. But it has spent money in
just two dozen of the closest races where Mr. Pacelle
believes he can swing about 5% of the vote.

"Animals are a part of the fabric of our culture, so
it's inevitable that the organized network that
protects animals would activate for political ends,"
Mr. Pacelle said in an interview. About two-thirds of
households have pets. "We can be an incredibly
influential political organization, as powerful as the
Chamber of Commerce," Mr. Pacelle told a crowd of
election volunteers in Las Vegas last week.

Carolyn Mathias, a lifelong Republican, learned from
the Humane Society that the state's Republican
governor, Bob Ehrlich, had approved the state's first
bear hunt in 50 years. The Humane Society publicized
the decision in television advertisements that
featured graphic images of dead bears.

"I'm sure it must sound unusual for a Republican to
suddenly not vote Republican based on one issue," Ms.
Mathias says. "The way I look at this is that the
bears have no political party."

It cuts both ways. When Mr. Pacelle knocked on doors
in Las Vegas last week for Republican Sen. John
Ensign, a veterinarian, all but one of the volunteers
who accompanied him were Democratic women.

Mr. Pacelle began creating the Humane Society
political operation two years ago when he was named
chief of the organization. Since then, he has quietly
built a formidable election campaign machine. To
comply with tax and election laws, Mr. Pacelle has
created two offshoots of the Humane Society to focus
on election campaigns. In total, the entities have
spent $3.4 million on congressional elections and
ballot initiatives, more than Exxon Mobil Corp. They
have contributed $150,000 to candidates for Congress,
which is more than Halliburton Co. has contributed.

The Humane Society has a long history of winning state
ballot initiatives on issues ranging from banning
cockfighting in Oklahoma to prohibiting hunting with
steel-jawed leg traps in Colorado. This year, the
Humane Society is battling the NRA over dove hunting
in Michigan and big agriculture over the size of
pigpens in Arizona.

The Humane Society first tested the waters in
congressional elections in 2004 -- and then, in just
one race. In that campaign, the group campaigned
against Rep. Chris John in Louisiana when the Democrat
ran for an open Senate seat against Republican Rep.
David Vitter. Mr. John championed the state's
legalized cockfighting industry, and the Humane
Society didn't want to see him in the Senate.

Polls showed that nine in 10 women in Louisiana
opposed cockfighting, so the Humane Society set about
to tell 300,000 white female voters that Mr. John
supported the practice. The group spent $400,000 on
radio ads and mailings to get the message out. When
Mr. Vitter won with 51% of the vote, the Humane
Society knew it could be a force.

"If we could win in 'Sportsman's Paradise,' we can win
anywhere," says Mr. Pacelle. A Yale graduate, Mr.
Pacelle considered going to law school before
dedicating his career to the protection of animals.
Mr. Pacelle says he grew up with several pets and an
"unusual interest in the welfare of animals." On his
way to a recent news conference, Mr. Pacelle brought
his fuel-efficient 2006 Toyota Prius to a halt to let
a pigeon pass in front of him. "More than one million
animals are killed each day by cars," he says.
Divorced, Mr. Pacelle has no pets these days because,
he says, he travels too much.

In the campaign's final days, the Humane Society
focused on defeating Mr. Pombo, the California
Republican who chairs the House Resources Committee.
From that perch, Mr. Pombo has broad authority over
environmental and agriculture legislation. The Humane
Society backed Democratic candidate Jerry McNerney.

The Humane Society spent more than $100,000 on radio
ads and $50,000 in mailings accusing Mr. Pombo of
blocking legislation to promote animal welfare. A
radio ad that aired last week accused Mr. Pombo of
voting to "deny funding to crack down on the barbaric
practices of dog fighting and cockfighting" and
opposing legislation to outlaw the slaughter of
American horses, "so the French can eat horse meat as
a delicacy."

Such tactics "turned what might have been a snooze of
a race into a nationally watched showdown," according
to an Oakland Tribune article last week.

In Oakland last week, Mr. Pacelle embarked on his
door-to-door canvassing tour dressed in tan khaki
pants and a T-shirt that said "Get Political for
Animals." After his encounter with the pit bull, Mr.
Pacelle eyed a bumper sticker on a truck parked in a
driveway: "Dog is my co-pilot," it read. "This is a
good sign," Mr. Pacelle said, advancing to the door.
In his typical pitch, Mr. Pacelle described Mr. Pombo
as "so extreme he even actively supports commercial
whaling."

A spokesman for Mr. Pombo predicted the Humane
Society's effort would fail because voters would view
the group as too extreme. "They are basically accusing
members of Congress of clubbing baby seals and kicking
puppies," said Brian Kennedy, the spokesman.

That sentiment was echoed by the Republican owners of
the growling pit bull. Mr. Pacelle's speech about Mr.
Pombo was cut off midsentence. "I don't think he kills
dogs," the occupant said, shutting the door.

Mr. Pacelle fared better a few minutes later when he
spotted a young couple getting into a black Ford
Mustang. "She watches Animal Planet all the time," the
man yelled as he drove away. "You've got our vote."

Write to Brody Mullins at brody.mull...@wsj.com

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