Being an American animal rights activist, Alexander Fernando Pacheco (activist) is a powerhouse. With a basic understanding of animal welfare and the motivation to support all beings, Pacheco gave much-needed hope to all those who could not speak for themselves.
Pacheco’s Early Life and Education
Alexander Fernando Pacheco is an American animal rights activist. He is the creator of 600 Million Dogs, the founder and former chairman of PETA’s board of directors, and a member of the advisory board of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
He had a major involvement in the Silver Spring monkeys case in 1981, which later sparked the United States’ animal rights movement.
Alex Pacheco was born in Joliet, Illinois, in August 1953.
However, he moved to Mexico with his family when he was very young. Alexander Fernando Pacheco spent most of his childhood surrounded by animals; bats slept in his front yard’s rubber trees, snakes nestled behind the adjacent rocks, and fishermen regularly dragged dolphins into the shore.
Pigs, oxen, chickens, and turkeys were routinely slain before his innocent eyes instead of slaughterhouses. Such cruel treatments of animals always rendered him distressed.
He went to a Catholic university to become a priest, but he changed his mind after touring a meat-packing facility. He returned to Ohio as a newfound vegetarian after reading Peter Singer’s Animal Liberation.
Alex Pacheco attended a Catholic University, intending to join Priesthood. However, his plans changed drastically when he visited a friend who worked in a meat-packing factory.
The inhumane treatment of cows troubled Pacheco deeply. He felt utterly disgusted at the sight of a newly born calf being separated from its slaughtered mother’s uterus and thrown in the dumpster.
Alex Pacheco no longer wished to join the priesthood. Instead, he focused on raising awareness for the ethical treatment of animals and decided to devote himself to helping beings “other than human beings”.
He majored in Political and Environmental Science at George Washington University. Alexander Fernando Pacheco co-founded PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the same year he graduated from college
Highlights of Activism
Alex Pacheco has a strong history of voice for animal protection and the ethical treatment of animals. It first started with the incident of the Sea Shepherd in 1979.
1. Sea Shepherd conservation
Alex Pacheco met Captain Paul Watson as a sea shepherd crew member in 1979 on the ship Sea Shepherd across the Atlantic Ocean, during a whale protection campaign of opposition to the Sierra, a Portuguese pirate whaling ship. Sailing across the Atlantic Ocean, their mission was to ram the world’s most notorious pirate whale-killing ship, the Sierra.
Before embarking on the voyage and in anticipation of the ramming, the bow of the ship Sea Shepherd was fortified with tons of concrete.
Both The Sea Shepherd and the Sierra were sunk after being seized by the Portuguese authorities.
Pacheco led anti-leg hold trap campaigns and initiatives against torturing and killing pigs and calves without anesthesia. Because Ohio is an agricultural state, his activity was met with a strong reaction.
he became a member of the advisory board of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society engages in various demonstrations, campaigns, and tactical operations at sea and elsewhere
Pacheco was later named Sea Shepherd’s Crew Member of the Year.
2. Silver Spring Monkeys Case
Alexander Fernando Pacheco became involved with the Silver Spring monkeys in 1981 when he volunteered at the Institute for Behavioral Research in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Neurologist, Edward Taub, was conducting animal research involving monkeys. The Silver Spring monkeys were seventeen macaque monkeys living inside the Institute of Behavioral Research. Taub employed constraint and electric shock to obtain results. Alex Pacheco observed serious unattended injuries on these subject monkeys.
Based on the silver spring monkeys’ housing conditions, he reported Taub for animal abuse and violating animal cruelty statutes. Taub was charged with six misdemeanor charges of failing to give proper veterinarian care.
Though the researchers responsible for animal cruelty were not convicted because the Court determined that Maryland’s Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act did not apply to researchers.
The Silver Spring monkeys case media attention ignited a revolution for animal rights.
The resulting legal battle for custody of the Silver Spring monkeys reached the United States Supreme Court , the first animal-rights case to do so.
Much was written regarding the Silver Spring Monkey campaign, including … “Pacheco shocked the nation into awareness of animal abuse in the realm of science … with the first laboratory animal case argued before the U.S. Supreme Court” – Publishers Weekly.
3. Dogs at The Pentagon Wound Lab
In 1983 Alex Pacheco heard that a military medical institution outside Washington, D.C., was planning to kill dogs in a “wound laboratory”.
Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger owned a collie himself and quickly banned the use of dogs in tests after reading an article about the evil intentions.
The New York Times reported that Alex Pacheco had been the primary source behind the article. Pacheco continues to use protests to increase public awareness about the laboratory animals issue.
4. Horse Slaughter in Texas
In 1983, Alexander Fernando Pacheco traveled to Texas to examine allegations of horses dying in fields. A firm has gathered at least 14,000 horses to be fattened for slaughter and marketed as horsemeat. Instead, 2,000 horses died of starvation, and 1,000 more were severely malnourished.
According to PETA, it was the first modern undercover investigation into farm animal mistreatment.
5. Pennsylvania Head Injury Lab’s Baboon Experiments
Alex Pacheco organized a sit-in outside the National Institutes of Health offices in 1985, which drew 100 people. According to the video released, there were severe head and neck injuries in baboons.
Researchers were also shown laughing at maimed, brain-damaged animals undergoing experiments in the video. The underground Animal Liberation Front obtained 60 hours of videotapes from the Pennsylvania Head Injury Lab for Unnecessary Fuss.
6. 600 Million Dogs
In 1999, after serving more than 20 years, Alex Pacheco resigned from PETA but continued his services for animal protection. In 2010, Alex founded 600 Million Dogs and Adopt-a-Pet.com, which are devoted to resolving the “global pet overpopulation crisis” and providing loving homes for animals all around the United States.
The 600 Million Dogs organization also aims to end the suffering of millions of stray cats and dogs in the USA and worldwide.
Along with the several rescue missions, working for the animal rights movement and raising a voice against animal cruelty laws, and spreading awareness for the ethical treatment of animals, Alexander Fernando Pacheco became the recipient of multiple awards.
1979– Sea Shepherd Crew Member of the Year
1995– The Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience
2001– U.S. Animal Rights Hall of Fame
Sea Shepherd Crew member of the Year
Conclusion
Whether it is the Ship Sea Shepherd or the Silver Springs monkey case Alex Pacheco has been fighting for animals for most of his life. His struggles and sacrifices were the legacies that led us to eco-terrorism awareness and ethical treatment of animals.
Let us take Pacheco’s life lessons forward, walk in his footsteps and keep making this world a pleasant place to live.
