Alex Pacheco (activist) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Alex Pacheco
Born	Alexander Fernando Pacheco August 1958 (age 66–67) Joliet, Illinois, U.S.
Alma mater	Ohio State University
Known for	Animal rights advocacy Founder, 600 Million Stray Dogs Need You Co-founder, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
Awards	U.S. Animal Rights Hall of Fame (2001) The Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience (1995) Sea Shepherd Crew Member of the Year (1979)

Alexander Fernando Pacheco (born in August 1958) is an American animal rights activist. An activist is someone who works hard to bring about political or social change. Pacheco has spent his life working to protect animals.

He is a co-founder of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), a famous animal rights group. He is also on the advisory board of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which protects ocean wildlife. In 1979, he joined the crew of the ship Sea Shepherd to stop a pirate whaling ship.

Pacheco became well-known in 1981 for the Silver Spring monkeys case. He worked with Ingrid Newkirk to help 17 monkeys being used for experiments. This important case helped start the modern animal rights movement in the United States.

Early Life and Inspiration

Alex Pacheco was born in Illinois but grew up in Mexico. His father was a doctor and his mother was a nurse. Living near the ocean, he was surrounded by animals like bats, snakes, and dolphins. He saw farm animals being killed for food, which was very different from how most people get their meat from a store.

His family later moved back to the United States. Pacheco's love for animals continued, and he even had a pet baby crab-eating macaque named Chi Chi.

At first, Pacheco planned to become a Catholic priest. But a visit to a meat-packing plant in Canada changed his life. He was shocked by what he saw. Soon after, a friend gave him the book Animal Liberation by Peter Singer. The book inspired him to become a vegetarian and dedicate his life to helping animals. He then went to Ohio State University to focus on this goal.

A Career in Animal Activism

Working with the Sea Shepherd

While at university, Pacheco organized campaigns to protect animals. He spoke out against using painful traps and performing operations on farm animals without anesthetic.

In 1979, he met Cleveland Amory, the founder of the Fund for Animals. This group funded the Sea Shepherd, a ship that worked to stop illegal whaling. Pacheco volunteered to join the crew. He worked on the ship during its first campaign to protect whales in the Atlantic Ocean.

The Silver Spring Monkeys Case

In 1981, Pacheco started one of his most famous campaigns. He volunteered to work at a research lab in Silver Spring, Maryland. A scientist named Edward Taub was doing experiments on 17 macaque monkeys.

Taub performed a surgery called "deafferentation." This surgery cut the nerves to the monkeys' arms and legs so they could not feel them. He then used hunger and electric shocks to try to force the monkeys to use their numb limbs. This research later helped create a new therapy for people who have had a stroke.

Pacheco was very concerned about how the monkeys were being treated. He took pictures and reported the lab for breaking animal cruelty laws. The police investigated the lab and took the monkeys away. This was the first time a research scientist in the U.S. faced such a challenge.

The fight to decide what would happen to the monkeys went on for years. It even reached the United States Supreme Court. This was the first animal rights case to go that high. The case brought a lot of attention to PETA, helping it grow from a small group into a national movement. Because of this case, the U.S. government created new rules in 1985 to better protect animals used in research.

Protecting Animals in Hawaii

In 1992, Pacheco traveled to the Hawaiian island of Molokai. An organization called the Nature Conservancy had set hundreds of wire traps to catch pigs and goats. They did this to protect native plants from these non-native animals. However, the traps caused the animals to suffer. Pacheco and a co-worker found and destroyed the traps. After this action became public, the Nature Conservancy stopped using the traps.

Stopping Experiments on Dogs

In 1983, Pacheco learned that the Pentagon planned to use dogs in a "wound laboratory." He told Congress and The Washington Post about the plan. The U.S. Secretary of Defense, Caspar Weinberger, read the newspaper article and immediately stopped the experiments on dogs.

Pacheco continued to protest to make sure the change was permanent. In 1984, the military banned the use of dogs and cats in wound labs and other research.

Investigating Horse Slaughter

Later in 1983, Pacheco investigated a company in Texas that was gathering thousands of horses. The company planned to sell them as horsemeat in Europe. But many of the horses were starving. About 2,000 horses died, and many more were very sick.

Pacheco shared his findings with the national media. State investigators called it one of the worst cases of animal abuse in the state's history. Because of the public attention, the company was shut down for good.

Exposing Baboon Head Injury Experiments

In 1984, Pacheco created a video called Unnecessary Fuss. It was made from 60 hours of videotapes that the Animal Liberation Front had taken from a head injury lab at the University of Pennsylvania.

The tapes showed researchers causing serious head injuries to baboons with a machine. The videos also showed the researchers laughing at the injured animals. Pacheco and other activists held a four-day sit-in protest at the National Institutes of Health, which was funding the lab. Soon after, the government stopped the funding, and the lab was closed.

Campaigning Against Animal Testing and Fur

As the chairman of PETA for 20 years, Pacheco helped lead many successful campaigns. He worked to convince companies to stop testing their products on animals. Major companies like Avon, Revlon, and Benetton agreed to end animal testing.

Pacheco also helped inform the public about how animals are treated in the fur industry. PETA's campaigns were a major reason why fur sales dropped.

Current Work with 600 Million Dogs

In 2010, Alex Pacheco founded a new organization called 600 Million Dogs. Its goal is to solve the problem of dog and cat overpopulation around the world. Too many stray animals are born, and many suffer from hunger and disease.

The organization is working on creating "Spay and Neuter Cookies." These would be a safe and easy way to sterilize stray animals without surgery. This could help end the suffering of millions of stray dogs and cats. It could also help prevent the spread of rabies, a disease that affects many people each year.

Awards and Recognition

• In 1995, Alex Pacheco received the Courage of Conscience award from The Peace Abbey.
• In 2001, he was added to the U.S. Animal Rights Hall of Fame for his important work.

See also

In Spanish: Alex Pacheco para niños

• Unnecessary Fuss, 1984 documentary
• List of animal rights advocates