Christine Gutleben

Christine Gutleben is the Berkeley-educated director of HSUS's "Faith Outreach program" and a former live-in girlfriend of HSUS president Wayne Pacelle.

A July 2008 Los Angeles Times profile of Pacelle included these observations about the HSUS power couple's time together:

Divorced long ago, [Wayne Pacelle] lives in a condo in Washington, D.C., with his girlfriend, Christine Gutleben, who runs the Humane Society's program that reaches out to religious leaders and congregations for support on animal welfare issues.

For years, Pacelle did not even have a pet. But when Gutleben moved in with him, she brought along her cat, Libby.

"He's interesting with animals," said Gutleben, 30. "He doesn't want to bother them or invade their space. He's like 'Hello, Libby.' " She imitated a formal, masculine voice, then laughed. "I just want to swoop her up and bury my head in her fur. He just lets her be. So, of course, she just crawls on the counters and he lets her crawl up and sit on his chest. If he needs to work, he'll ask me to remove her."

Gutleben and Pacelle reportedly now share "custody" of her cat.