Dog Abusing CEO Out – Desmond Hague Resigns Position With Centerplate

Finally, some good news. Desmond Hague, the dog abusing CEO at Centerplate has resigned his position under pressure from animal rights advocates and the general public. Hague was caught on camera kicking and choking a Doberman Pinscher puppy in an elevator. The video, captured in July and released last month after being sent to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of British Columbia, made it to the media and an immediate outcry from the public was heard.

Centerplate, the company for which Des Hague was CEO, issued several statements and reprimanded him, requiring him to donate money and time working with animal charities. After a petition was signed by more than 183,000 people, however, it was clear that this was not enough, and Hague’s actions were not going to be whitewashed.

According to a previous Inquisitr article, the dog abusing CEO was about to lose his job. Instead, Hague resigned his position this morning, and Centerpoint appointed Chris Verros as acting CEO and president in his place.

“We want to reiterate that we do not condone nor would we ever overlook the abuse of animals,” said Joe O’Donnell, chairman of the board of directors for Centerplate in a statement. “Following an extended review of the incident involving Mr. Hague, I’d like to apologize for the distress that this situation has caused to so many; but also thank our employees, clients and guests who expressed their feelings about this incident. Their voices helped us to frame our deliberations during this very unusual and unfortunate set of circumstances.”

More good news is that the dog was not his, and, therefore, wasn’t in his care often; the 1-year-old Doberman belonged to a friend. When the video reached the SPCA in British Columbia, they immediately launched an investigation and obtained a search warrant, taking the dog into custody.

The dog abusing CEO had released a video apology about the incident, documented by The Globe and Mail, but considering the large number of signatures on the petition to have him removed, it didn’t come across as very sincere.

As for Centerpoint, they are moving on from the incident.