Few people can speak for the animals like Wayne Pacelle, Chief Executive Officer of the Humane Society of the United States.

In his previous post as senior vice president of government affairs and communications, Pacelle compelled a broad range of Americans to act on behalf of animals, whether convincing Congress to protect great apes or urging Oklahomans to ban cockfighting within their borders. What's more, his eloquent defenses of the defenseless have appeared in hundreds of newspaper, magazine, radio, and TV stories; they have reverberated through state legislatures; and they have echoed in the ears of voters from coast to coast.

Who better to write a regular column on animal advocacy?

Update: Read Wayne's Blog

Since May 2007 Wayne Pacelle has maintained a daily blog, "A Humane Nation." Visit the blog to get a behind-the-scenes look at the work of The Humane Society of the United States and stay up to date with the latest, most pressing issues facing animals. Then join the conversation and weigh in with your two cents.

The Animal Advocate will know no boundaries. One month, Pacelle may argue for more federal funding for enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act, the next he may report about the role canned hunts play in the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease. The common denominator to all the columns will be Pacelle's passion for advocating change—not only for the benefit of animals, but for the public good as well.

The Yale University graduate has already compiled an impressive list of accomplishments in his animal-protection career. Among them:

• He has conceived of, or helped to direct, more than a dozen successful ballot initiatives, including the first ever ban in the United States on the use of gestation crates (Florida, 2002) as well as bans on the use of leg-hold traps (Colorado, 1996; Massachusetts, 1996; California, 1998; and Washington, 2000).
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• He has worked with state legislatures to pass a broad range of animal-protection laws while also thwarting the advance of numerous measures to harm animals. He has, for example, helped to prevent the legalization of dove hunting in Iowa, Michigan, and Minnesota.
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• He has helped pass more than a half dozen federal laws to protect animals, most recently working with Congress in 2002 to ban the interstate shipment or exports of fighting birds and dogs.
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• He has testified before Congressional committees on more than ten occasions. His topics have included canned hunts, the Animal Welfare Act, cockfighting, the exotic pet trade, bear baiting, and Chronic Wasting Disease.
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• He is co-founder and former chairman of Humane USA, a non-partisan organization that works to elect humane-minded candidates to political office.
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• He officially became the Chief Executive Officer of The HSUS on June 1, 2004, and promptly sent the staff a statement outlining his beliefs and broad goals.