The Egg Man Cometh

Don’t make dumb jokes about whether the chicken or egg came first with Wayne Pacelle, the head and face of the Humane Society of the United States. Pacelle, it turns out, eats neither, being a vegan now for 30 years. But he stressed that that’s his own personal position, not that of his organization’s. Within the spectrum of animal-rights groups, the Humane Society is notably not doctrinaire about the eating habits of its members. Instead, it’s much more focused on the living — and dying — conditions of the animals raised under factory farm conditions throughout the United States.

Earlier this week, Pacelle (pronounced “pa-sell-ee”) got out of his L Street digs in Washington D.C. to take a statewide victory lap over the implementation of Proposition 2 — which expands the amount of space required for egg-laying hens — that California voters passed overwhelmingly in 2008. Prop. 2 is one of many new laws and initiatives that went into effect January 1, giving Pacelle a good excuse to stop in Santa Barbara to visit with supporters at the home of Paula Kislak, an area veterinarian and a member of the Humane Society’s national board of directors.

In person, Pacelle is smooth, polished, and at ease. He’s got well-coiffed black hair with a smattering of gray around the temples and feet that are distractingly large. He’s also got a ridiculous amount of detailed statistical info at his fingertips. During an interview at the Montecito Starbucks, Pacelle noted there’s about one egg-laying hen in the United States for each of the nation’s 300 million residents. Each of those hens produces about 260 eggs a year, which coincidentally is about the same quantity the average American consumes in a year.