STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

Idaho should capitalize on its wolves for ecotourism, rather than taking potshots at them, the chief executive officer of the Humane Society of the U.S. says.

Wayne Pacelle told those attending the 2017 Sun Valley Wellness Festival over Memorial Day Weekend that wolves in Idaho rarely kill livestock and that ranchers who do lose livestock are typically compensated.

Idahoans would do well to look at neighboring Yellowstone National Park where wolves brought in $35 million in ecotourism dollars last year, while helping to curb chronic waste disease among elk and deer, he said.

“And there’s no compelling reason to kill a lion, whether a lion in Zambia or a mountain lion in Idaho,” he added.

Pacelle told his audience at the Sun Valley Opera House that it might seem strange to talk about the welfare of animals in the context of a Wellness Festival. But wellness is not just about what’s in our heads. It’s about our environment and the broader wellbeing of the world, he said.

Pacelle noted that our capitalist economy drives behavior and business, and that business provides opportunities to provide our necessities. But we should never think of business simply in terms of profit. Rather, we need to think of it in terms of our values.

“My book is about marrying our business activities and economy with our values,” he said, referring to his latest book “The Humane Economy: How Innovators and Enlightened Consumers are Transforming the Lives of Animals.”

Animals constitute a large chunk of our business economy. There are 170 million dogs and cats in the United States--350 million pets all told, if you throw in the gerbils and goldfish. And the money we spend on them constitutes $60 billion of the GDP (gross domestic product).

In 2014 PetSmart was the subject of an $8.25 billion acquisition—the biggest in the world at the time.

And wildlife watching constitutes $55 billion a year, while spending associated with national parks constitutes $35.9 billion, creating thousands of jobs.

“So the idea of protecting animals just because it’s a nice thing to do is wrong. It’s a major economic driver,” said Pacelle. “And you can monetize your incredible natural beauty here for these activities.”

The biggest abuse of animals is for their food, Pacelle noted. Years ago most animals lived outside and had a decent life before being slaughtered. Now they’re being treated as widgets, Pacelle said.

Pacelle noted that one of the worst things you can do to a human being is to stick him or her in solitary confinement “because we have such a need for social connections.”

Yet, factory farms stick hogs in cages so skinny that they can’t turn around. And, one farm in Iowa boasts 10 million laying hens jammed shoulder to shoulder in cages the size of a microwave.

“We would go crazy in 30 minutes if we were subjected to that. Imagine if we had to put up with that our entire life,” noting that a judge struck down a gag law recently passed by the Idaho legislature that prohibited taking pictures of animal factory farms.

Thankfully, companies like Nestle, Albertson’s, McDonald’s, Walmart, Chipotle and 200 other companies  are pushing for humane treatment for egg-laying chickens. Now, the Humane Society is working on behalf of getting more space, better slaughter methods and other more humane treatment of broiler chickens which, Pacelle said, are bred so fast that they can’t even stand.

The average American eats 30 land animals a year. By 2030, the world will need millions of tons of more meat, which is not sustainable, Pacelle said.

“Bill Gates says, ‘The meat market is ripe for reinvention.’ ”

We could save a billion animals a year if each of us would eliminate animal protein one day a week.

“And you would be healthier,” added Pacelle, a vegan himself.

The future of meat is meatless with plant-based chicken and lab-grown meat that provide the taste and texture of meat without accompanying animal cruelty. These products involve 96 percent fewer greenhouses gases, 99 percent less land and 96 percent less water, he added.

Pacelle said the 2015 killing of Cecil the Lion in Zimbabwe brought trophy hunting to the forefront. Most major airlines now refuse to carry animal trophies in their cargo holds. The country of Botswana, which has more elephants and lions than any other country, advertised in National Geographic magazine, noting its ban on trophy hunting to ensure viable ecotourism.

Elephants are worth 76 times more alive than dead, with one elephant bringing in $1.6 million in ecotourism, according to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.

“If these animals are gone, why would people travel to those countries?” Pacelle asked

Similarly, killing sharks for fins similarly for Chinese medicine could devastate a growing shark tourism industry that sees people spending $221 million in Florida alone for shark encounters.

The United States used to be the biggest whaling nation in the world, said Pacelle, until the discovery of crude oil sent the need for whale oil for lamps plummeting. Now the United States is one of the biggest whale watching nations in the world.

“We need to stop viewing wild animals as trophies,” he said.

WE’RE MAKING PROGRESS, SAYS WAYNE PACELLE:

• Only 2.4 million pets are euthanized in shelters versus 13 million in 1970.
• PetSmart and PetCo have begun adopting out rescue pets, rather than those bred in puppy mills. And it’s good for business as the average adoptive parent spends five times more than the average customer.
• Elephants that were in chains 24 hours a day now have a new lease on life with Ringling Brothers closing down after 146 years.
• Los Angeles just banned wild animal acts.
• The documentary “Blackfish” forced Sea World to stop breeding orcas for its shows.
• India has banned the important of cosmetics tested on animals.