Wayne Pacelle's Jan. 5 letter is inaccurate and misleading in two important respects.

First, the Humane Society of the U.S. (HSUS) is not the innocent victim of a "grudge suit." The HSUS was directly involved in the alleged racketeering (RICO) and other wrongful conduct underlying the $9.3 million settlement payment that the ASPCA made to Feld Entertainment (owner of Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey Circus). The HSUS controlled the Fund for Animals, an original plaintiff to the manufactured Endangered Species Act case, through a merger which automatically made the HSUS a "party." The HSUS also controlled the case through two of its in-house lawyers—defendants Jonathan Lovvorn and Kimberly Ockene—who served as counsel of record for all of the other co-plaintiffs. These two people had worked for the law firm that paid Tom Rider and, as the HSUS employees, participated in the strategic decisions in the Endangered Species Act case. Mr. Lovvorn also made some of the payments for Mr. Rider, one of which was with a check signed by Mr. Pacelle himself, which brought the Humane Society into the alleged conspiracy.

Second, Tom Rider, the paid plaintiff and "star" witness in the Endangered Species Act case, had his testimony rejected entirely, including his multiple assertions of elephant mistreatment. The court dismissed Mr. Rider "with prejudice," which is no different than a decision against him on "the merits"—a result that neither Mr. Rider nor the other plaintiffs ever challenged in the appeal that they lost.

Moreover, the ASPCA and the Fund for Animals did more than simply fail to prove "legal damage," as Mr. Pacelle states. They both voluntarily abandoned their claims in the middle of trial. If their "elephant abuse" case was so powerful, as Mr. Pacelle now claims, why did they quit before the judge even ruled?

Stephen Payne

Feld Entertainment Inc.

Vienna, Va.