Horse Activist, John Hettinger Dies

Opponents of horse slaughter are mourning the loss of John Hettinger, who passed away on September 6th following a long illness. He was 74 years old. Mr. Hettinger was the recipient of the Equine Advocates Safe Home Equine Protection Award in 2004 for his dedication to end horse slaughter in the United States.

John Hettinger accepting the 2004 Equine Advocates Safe Home Equine Protection Award for his work to end horse slaughter.

That was the year that Willie Nelson also performed at Equine Advocates' annual fund-raising event. Not long after the two met, Nelson became actively involved with the horse slaughter issue and remains committed to ending this horrendous and un-American practice which is opposed by the vast majority of Americans.

Hettinger is largely responsible for convincing many in the racing industry that opposing horse slaughter was the right thing to do. He tore down barriers and wore down the reluctance on the part of many horse industry people to support The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act. He was an eloquent speaker and writer. He wrote and designed many clever and hard-hitting ads that he also funded. John Hettinger didn't just talk - he acted and spent tens of thousands of dollars of his own money to try to end horse slaughter.

We, at Equine Advocates, feel privileged to have known him. We offer our sincerest and heart-felt condolences to his wife, Betty and the entire Hettinger family. The following excerpt by John Hettinger appeared in the 2004 Equine Advocates event program, the year that we honored him:

"I believe there is one catch phrase which is contributing greatly to the confusion surrounding the present dialogue on horse slaughter. That phrase is 'unwanted horses.' They wanted them when they bought them, didn't they? These horses are the responsibility of their owners, who owe them kindly treatment through life and a peaceful death administered by caring hands. Period."

"Those individuals and agencies who justify casting a horse off like a piece of detritus at the end of his usefulness, are doing a great disservice to the concept of personal responsibility. Enabling a callous and irresponsible person to walk away from a problem, pocket a few hundred dollars, and feel good about it is a disservice to our industry and the animal they profess to care about. In this, they are helped by the enablers who refer to 'processing' rather than slaughter and 'plants' rather than slaughterhouse..."

Of his mission to end horse slaughter, John Hettinger said, "I don't plan to quit, ever." He kept his word. Now it is up to the rest of us to continue our fight and succeed. John Hettinger will be sorely missed.