Years ago, someone who said she was an animal welfare attorney likely would have received blank responses and quizzical stares, or she might have been immediately stereotyped as a "radical." Today, with recent high-profile events (dog fighting, for one), more widespread acceptance of the animal welfare movement has confirmed legitimacy for this emerging field.
Longview resident Kelly Heitkamp spent many years working at prestigious Texas law firms specializing in civil defense while working nights and weekends as an animal welfare attorney. As an animal lover who dreamed about being an animal welfare attorney since she was eight, Kelly devotes considerable time and energy to animal law on both state and federal levels and a great deal of her time is spent fighting puppy mills, horse slaughter and apathy.
"We're all called to go out and be good people, but everyone has a specific purpose. I'm doing what I've been called to do since I was eight," Kelly said. "At times it's a nightmare, and I find irony in the fact that I'm fighting for something that shouldn't even be a fight. I'm fighting for decency."
Her approach
First and foremost, Kelly is best categorized as an animal welfare advocate rather than an animal rights activist. The two, she said, are different when examined closely.
On one hand, animal rights is a complex grab-bag of loaded issues and concerns, and these advocates don't distinguish between human beings and animals. On the other hand, animal welfare groups do not protest hunting and ranching industries or the use of animal by-products.
"Animal rights activists are primarily vegan, and they believe that it is morally unethical to use animals for food or any by-products of the animal. They tend to be hard on the animal welfare groups because they say we should know better," Kelly said. "While animal welfare agrees with animal rights on some points, we are not the same. Animal welfare groups seek to end unnecessary suffering and cruelty toward animals, but tend not to argue against the ranching and hunting industries."
She said that although she applauds animal rights groups such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) for the work that they do, she chooses a less in-your-face approach.
"I'm not working for PETA, but I'm certainly not working against them," Kelly said. "PETA members come to your door and instead of knocking gently, they push your house down with information. The organization with which I work feels that people generally aren't as responsive to 'in-your-face' tactics, so we take a more gentle approach."
But, the two groups ultimately are working toward a similar goal: stopping the inhumane treatment of all creatures on earth.
"The point is education, and the truth can be very ugly," Kelly said. "There are some violent, atrocious facts out there that sound like embellishments. Unfortunately for animal welfare, we're not embellishing."
Her causes
Kelly plays a big part in the Texas Humane Legislation Network (THLN), an organization that pushes pro-animal legislation and supports pro-animal legislators. The group acts as a voice at the Texas Legislature for numbers of animals throughout Texas who suffer inhumane abuse and neglect at the hands of humans. Currently, Kelly's group has been focusing on puppy mills, and lobbying for the passage of state bills and federal resolutions to end horse slaughter for consumption.
The pet overpopulation problem will only get worse if bad puppy mills thrive, she said. While thousands of dogs and cats are destroyed in animal control facilities and shelters yearly, puppy mills in untold numbers churn out new puppies each week to be sold through pet stores and Web sites. These mills operate in deplorable conditions that are both unsanitary and inhumane.
"Breeding is an industry, and there are no puppy mill laws in Texas," she said. "If we could regulate this, bad breeders would be put out of business and good breeders would thrive."
As for horses, THLN is working to eliminate any slaughtering of these beautiful animals for human consumption. Although the two horse slaughter plants previously operating in Texas are now closed, horses are still being transported to Mexico and Canada for slaughter. There is a bill currently in the works which would prohibit horse slaughter on a national level.
"The bills and resolutions we support help those animals left in the dark of the night without water, food or shelter; those who have been forgotten and who are turned away by every human hand," Kelly said. "These animals are no different than the cat or dog that sleeps in your bed each night, the same pet that follows you to the mailbox each day or waits for you at the door each night. The only difference between those abandoned and abused and those with the comforts of a warm, secure home is nothing more than fate."
Her goals
Kelly has spent some time in Washington, D.C. fighting the good fight with her fellow advocates. Although she intends to one day move there with her three pups (her daughters) to work alongside the legislators she deems "rock stars," she knows her place, for now, is East Texas.
"I really have an obligation to the 903 area code," she said. "Before I set my sights on the big time, I need to focus on fixing the problems right here in East Texas — right here in my own back yard.
And, while she knows that things can't change overnight, Kelly remains hopeful for the day when cruelty toward animals will be a thing of the past.
"The fight for humane treatment toward animals isn't going away. The animal lobby is based upon tremendous passion and committment by the retired, the single mother, the 10-year-old student. It's a movement that's heavily funded and moving like a freight train," she said. "This is just the beginning. Animal cruelty won't be resolved and settled in my own city, let alone in my own country, before I die. But that's not a reason to stop trying — that's all the motivation I need to keep fighting."
