The attack on hunting dog owners perfectly fits the operating procedures of Wayne Pacelle, an animal-rights extremist well-known to sportsmen
By Brian Lynn, Vice President Marketing and Communications
Key Takeaways:
- A seemingly narrow Farm Bill amendment (HR 5017) to ban greyhound racing is actually a calculated, broadly written attack that threatens to criminalize traditional hunting dog training, field trials, and hunting with sight hounds across the United States.
- The mastermind revealed behind this stealth legislation is Wayne Pacelle of Animal Wellness Action, a former Humane Society of the United States leader well-known to sportsmen for his decades-long war against hunting.
Tell Your Representative and Senator to Stop Wayne Pacelle’s Farm Bill Dog Ban Now!
On March 3, the all-important Farm Bill was hijacked by animal-rights radicals when the House Committee on Agriculture approved an amendment, House Resolution 5017, the Greyhound Protection Act of 2025, that will destroy the training and hunting of dogs across the country.
What is HR 5017? The Greyhound Protection Act Explained
On its face, HR 5017, otherwise known as the Greyhound Protection Act, seeks to ban greyhound racing nationwide – never mind that West Virginia is the only state in the country that has any (just two) active tracks. The bill, however, goes beyond that and would ban off-track betting of greyhound racing in other countries – something that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has no authority over, which begs the question of why it’s in the Farm Bill.
When the sponsor of HR 5017, Congressman Salud Carbajal (D-California), read the intent of the bill and reasons why it should be passed, he didn’t read the language of the bill (YouTube discussion starts at 6:55) but rather the intent and reasons why it was necessary in his opinion. He read his opinion and logic diligently from a prepared statement when stammering through the need to amend the Farm Bill with HR 5017. It was almost as if he was reading it for the first time as much as he stumbled through the script.
How HR 5017 passed over objections from Committee Chairman GT Thompson
When questioned by Committee Chairman GT Thompson (R-Pennsylvania) and others about the bill, why it was needed, and how greyhound racing differs from horse racing, he fumbled through any semblance of coherency and logic, offering only vague, emotional, and dismissive reasoning. The same could be said for Iowa Congressman Zach Nunn (R-Iowa), who also pushed for the amendment.
Ultimately, HR 5017 was passed by voice vote over the objections of Chairman Thompson, who raised concerns about unintended consequences and the legality of gambling regulations and enforcement in an agriculture bill.
Protect Hunting Dogs. Email Your Representative Today.
How HR 5017 and the Animal Welfare Act Threaten Hunting Dogs
You can almost understand why members of the House Ag Committee, as well as most of the outdoor critter groups, didn’t object heavily to HR 5017. The version portrayed in committee seemed straightforward and aimed at only at greyhound racing. In reality, it’s anything but simple and much worse for Americans who hunt with dogs.
In addition to greyhound racing, H.R. 5017 amends the Animal Welfare Act to ban certain types of hounds in hunting (“open field coursing”), as well as “live lure training,” which are commonly used for training dogs and in field trials.
Banning Open Field Coursing and Live Lure Training
“Open Field Coursing” is not defined in the bill or under the Animal Welfare Act.
- Without a federal definition, courts often revert to commonly available definitions. American Heritage (5th ed. 2011) defines coursing as “hunting with dogs trained to chase game by sight instead of scent.” As such, H.R. 5017 bans hunting with sight hounds.
“Live Lure Training” is also not defined and lacks a commonly available dictionary definition. The bill only allows for lure training with “inanimate objects” – e.g. no live animals.
- Of course, hunting dogs are commonly trained on live animals, including upland bird dogs, foxhounds, coonhounds, etc. All of those would be prohibited by this newly inserted Farm Bill language.
Don’t let HR 5017 make your dog training illegal. Take action!
A Political Game of Vagueness
This type of politicking through vagueness is common among the animal-rights movement. It’s easy to manipulate the emotions of people, even politicians, when “advocating” for animals. This tactic fits their modus operandi and script perfectly as most people gloss over the details when the welfare of dogs and cats seemingly hang in the balance.
But the devil is in the details, and the details of this script were hidden and promoted by a devil well known to hunters, anglers and trappers. This was no accident. It is a pointed and intentional attack on dog hunting that relied on political trickery and emotional deceit as it was snuck into one of the most popular bills in the country.
Wayne Pacelle and Animal Wellness Action’s Anti-Hunting History & Agenda
During the debate on HR 5017, Rep. Carbajal references Animal Wellness Action (AWA) as a key supporter of the hunting ban. While AWA is somewhat new on the scene, the man behind the organization, Wayne Pacelle, is perhaps the most powerful and effective animal-rights activist in America. He’s the former leader of the Humane Society of the United States (now called Humane World for Animals) and is responsible for turning it into the world’s largest, wealthiest, and most active animal-rights organization in the world, which was singlehandedly responsible for launching a legislative and ballot-box jihad against hunting for decades.
A History of Attacking Hunting
- 1967 – Celebrity Television Critic Cleveland Amory, author of the 1974 anti-hunting book Man Kind?, which inspired a controversial 1975 CBS documentary, The Guns of Autumn, creates the Fund for Animals, with a primary focus of banning hunting.
- 1989 – Amory hires 23-year-old animal-rights activist Wayne Pacelle as Executive Director of the Fund for Animals. Under Pacelle, the Fund for Animals spearheads ballot issue attacks against sportsmen in Arizona, California, Colorado, and Oregon.
- 1994 – Pacelle is hired by the Humane Society of the United States to run its government affairs operation. HSUS followed by investing heavily in ballot issues to ban hunting and trapping in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Maine, Michigan, and Ohio among other states.
- 2004 – HSUS makes Pacelle its President & CEO. He then consolidates the animal-rights movement, absorbing other extremist organizations such as his former employer, the Fund for Animals, and the Doris Day Action League. The organization creates a PAC. HSUS becomes the wealthiest and most powerful animal-rights organization in the world.
- 2018 – Pacelle resigns as CEO from HSUS after being accused of sexual harassment, which played out very publicly in the press. He immediately forms Animal Wellness Action.
- 2024 – Animal Wellness Action spearheads and largely funds Colorado Petition 127 to ban mountain lion and bobcat hunting.
- 2026 –The Farm Bill is amended by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture to include a ban on hunting with dogs. The amendment sponsor is California Rep. Salud Carbajal, who during the debate, references Animal Wellness Action as a key supporter of the hunting ban.
Leopards don’t change their spots. Tigers don’t shed their stripes. Wayne Pacelle hasn’t changed his goal of ending hunting – he’s just doing it under the name of a new organization – and he’s doing it the same way: through political trickery and ballot-box bludgeoning.
One could almost be forgiven for overlooking this, but with the mask removed, all doubt is removed, too. Anyone claiming the controversy over the so-called greyhound protection act being added to the Farm Bill is nothing, isn’t looking out for the best interest of your hunting dog, dog hunters, owners, breeders, trainers, field trial or hunt test participants. This language is the first shot fired in Congress to ban hunting with dogs.
We’ve exposed the plan. Now it’s your turn to stop it. Contact Your Legislators.
The Sportsmen’s Alliance guarantees hunting, fishing, and trapping for the American sportsman now and forever. We’re there when sportsmen need us most. We are the only organization specifically created to protect the individual hunter, angler, and trapper – no matter the threat. We will never compromise when it comes to defending our way of life in the courts, in the legislatures, in the public square, and at the ballot box. We make this promise to the American sportsman: we will never give up and never give in while proudly securing our future against those seeking to destroy our values, beliefs, and traditions. Stay connected to the Sportsmen’s Alliance: Online, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
