John Hoyt (1932- )
Years at HSUS: 1970-1996
Major Accomplishments: Replaced The HSUS's branch system with a regional office structure; hired key staff members to strengthen the organization's professional capability; developed a full-fledged wildlife protection program; founded a youth-education division with its own headquarters; and launched the International Journal for the Study of Animal Problems.

By Amanda Tyler

It has been said that one should never talk about politics or religion in polite company. But during his 26-year tenure as president of The HSUS, John Hoyt not only tackled the unspeakable, he also recruited the kind of professional staff rarely seen before in animal-protection circles—to speak for those creatures who can't speak for themselves. In fact, Hoyt, a former Presbyterian minister who became the longest-serving president in HSUS history, solidified the organization's already professional reputation to the point where it became a defining characteristic of The HSUS in the modern era.

Perhaps more importantly, according to friends and colleagues, Hoyt transformed The HSUS from a small group of activists into a household name. "He was the leader who put us on the map," says Patricia Forkan, HSUS executive vice president, whom Hoyt hired in 1976. "He moved us from a small, but determined group to a serious player not only nationally but internationally."

The Transformation

A seemingly unlikely leader for an animal protection organization in 1970, Hoyt was serving as senior minister of the First Presbyterian Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he earned a good reputation as an institution-builder. At the time, HSUS President Mel Morse was feeling the tug of family responsibility on the West Coast, and decided to step down, leaving the board of directors to search for a suitable leader.

At first glance, Hoyt would seem an improbable choice for The HSUS's next leader. Born in Marietta, Ohio in 1932, Hoyt was the son of a Baptist minister, a boy who would later follow his own religious path. Educated at Tiffin Columbian High School and Rio Grande College in Ohio, Hoyt was influenced by his grandmother, a strict vegetarian who had a great love and compassion for animals. She lived to be 106.

"My grandmother had 40 pet sheep and each one had a name," Hoyt recalled. "Being on her West Virginia farm was a very rich experience."

While Hoyt had little more to rely on than a rich childhood experience, he hit the ground running when he joined The HSUS in 1970, not long after Coleman Burke, a board member with ties to the American Bible Society, introduced the organization to its future leader. Hoyt was a quick learner, relying on Mel Morse's Ordeal of the Animals as part of his preparation. The book was largely a collaborative work involving HSUS staff members Marcia Glaser, Dale Hylton, Frank McMahon, and Patrick Parkes, among others. Thus, it gave Hoyt a chance to become familiar with both staff members and program concerns that would come under his authority.

At the same time, Hoyt was confident that his clerical background put him in a strong position. Animal protectionists, he noted, had a quasi-religious devotion to their cause, and "coming out of the church," Hoyt recalled, "gave me an opportunity to infuse some of the moral, ethical concerns I felt were appropriate to an animal organization."

During the first five years of Hoyt's tenure, The HSUS rearranged its priorities, replaced its branch system with a regional office structure, and hired key staff members to strengthen its professional and technical capacities. New hires like Guy Hodge (1944-1999), Sue Pressman, John Dommers, and Charles F. Herrmann III, constituted the first wave of new professionals. The bicentennial year of 1976 marked the beginning of the second wave: Forkan, Michael W. Fox, and Paul G. Irwin were three of the most important hires Hoyt would ever make.

An experienced campaigner, Forkan strengthened The HSUS's effectiveness in the public and legislative arenas. A nationally recognized veterinarian with a scholarly background in animal behavior, Fox helped to establish the organization's scientific credibility as it began to tackle emerging issues in wildlife protection and the intensive rearing of farm animals. (Recalling the decision to hire Fox a quarter century later, Hoyt observed, "We now had someone who knew the language, we now had the competency.")

For his part, Irwin, a United Methodist minister with a background in non-profit fund raising, launched a membership development program that would allow The HSUS to expand substantially during the ensuing decade. In 1992, after serving as treasurer, Irwin succeeded Hoyt as president. Hoyt retained the title of CEO until 1997, when he ceded that title to Irwin, too.

Expanding Influence

By 1979, The HSUS was mailing more than one million pieces of literature annually, and had 80 employees. Membership stood at 115,000, and the organization's annual budget was nearly $2 million. When ten staff members traveled to Great Britain to meet with their counterparts at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the world's first and largest animal welfare society, Hoyt and his colleagues found it more a meeting of equals than they had dared to imagine.

Under Hoyt's leadership, The HSUS also purchased its first building to serve as headquarters (as well as its replacement), established a full-time office of general counsel, developed a full-fledged wildlife protection program, founded a youth-education division with its own headquarters, and launched the International Journal for the Study of Animal Problems, edited by Fox and Andrew N. Rowan (who is now HSUS Chief of Staff).

The road to expansion, however, did have a few potholes, as Hoyt will tell you himself. His decisions to abolish the branch system and hire scientists did little to appease members in the beginning, he recalled. "It's not easy to make change," he acknowledged. "Members were afraid that we were selling out to scientists by hiring veterinarians."

But time and talent were on Hoyt's side—namely the talent he hired, professionals who, with time, won over the critics and naysayers. Hoyt, for one, was not altogether surprised when The HSUS gradually moved to the forefront of animal protection. "I tried to hire staff that could function in their own arenas," he said. "And I set out to hire very competent people. I wanted the kind of people who could do their thing, and I didn't have to look over their shoulder all the time."

During his years of service, Hoyt frequently spoke for The HSUS in a variety of media. He appeared in Why Protect Animals?, a film produced by The HSUS in 1973. His outspoken criticism of hunting earned him an appearance in the CBS documentary, The Guns of Autumn, broadcast nationally in September 1975. He even found time to author a book, Animals in Peril: How Sustainable Use Is Wiping Out the World's Wildlife (1994).

The CEO of a large humane organization could not possibly participate in every program area, but in almost three decades of service, Hoyt played a meaningful role in the battle against specific cruelties. When he first joined The HSUS, for instance, he actively campaigned against the cruelties of the rodeo, then a significant organizational priority.

But Hoyt found his real niche in the campaign to overhaul the methods of ritual slaughter. In the mid-1970s, he began a long period of service with The HSUS-funded Council on Livestock Protection, trying to address the suffering of animals during handling, just prior to slaughter. The slaughter process back then almost universally employed a shackle and hoist system, in which still-conscious animals were hung upside down while their throats were slit.

Under Hoyt's leadership, the council was instrumental in urging the adoption of a less stressful, more-specially designed restraint device that has gained increasing acceptance in the United States.

Passing the Torch

When Hoyt retired in 1996, he didn't exactly put the animal movement behind him. He still serves in an advisory role for The HSUS and its affiliated groups, and he still keeps his finger on the movement's more troubling issues. "For domestic animals, it remains spaying and neutering," he says. "And food-animal issues are still a major concern."

What's more, this father of four daughters has passed on his love for animals. Aside from recently rescuing a dog in Ireland and a Premarin mare on this continent, Peggy R. Hoyt penned All My Children Wear Fur Coats (Legacy Planning Partners, 2002), a guide to planning for a pet's livelihood after an owner's untimely death.

In looking back over his HSUS career, Hoyt says he has no regrets. And that includes maintaining the organization's moderate positions, even as more radical groups began clamoring for the spotlight during his tenure. He insisted, he says, that The HSUS "use the term animal protection [rather than animal rights]. You can't be compassionate to animals and not people. And spraying people or using other tactics never helps in the long run."

While some colleagues say that that kind of steadfast leadership was responsible for expanding The HSUS exponentially over nearly three decades, Hoyt himself prefers to spread the credit. "I am just proud that I was able to find people who were sensitive and able to deal with the issues," he says.

Amanda Tyler is a freelance writer based in Washington, D.C.