LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Humane World for Animals is proud to announce that Keith Dane, who formerly led the organization’s equine welfare programs, has received the 2026 EQUUS Foundation Humanitarian Award at the Pegasus Awards Dinner during the US Equestrian annual meeting.
The EQUUS Foundation Humanitarian Award honors individuals whose life work has fundamentally advanced the welfare of horses. This year’s selection of Dane marks a rare and powerful moment: recognition by the mainstream equestrian community of a career dedicated to improving systems that put horses at risk, confronting cruelty, exposing abuse and reshaping the moral and regulatory foundations of the horse industry.
For decades, Dane was a defining force in the fights to end soring of Tennessee Walking Horses, strengthen enforcement of the Horse Protection Act, improve welfare for racehorses, and challenge the horse slaughter pipeline. His work helped drive some of the most consequential investigations, policy reforms and cultural reckonings in the history of American horse protection.
Long before his national animal protection work, Dane was deeply embedded in the horse world as a horseman, breeder, exhibitor, and licensed judge and official, including within the gaited horse community. That experience gave him firsthand understanding of the traditions, pressures and incentives inside the industry and positioned him to become one of the most credible and effective voices for reform.
“Keith Dane did not just advocate for better treatment of horses. He changed what was considered acceptable,” said John Goodwin, who leads Humane World for Animals’ Equine Protection program. “That this award comes from the equestrian community itself is especially meaningful. It reflects the reality that lasting change for horses is often driven by people inside the horse world who understand it deeply and care enough to demand better.”
Throughout his career, Dane was at the center of watershed moments in equine protection: building the evidentiary and veterinary foundation for federal reforms, supporting undercover investigations that revealed systemic abuse, strengthening enforcement standards, and forging coalitions that made once-unthinkable changes both possible and inevitable.
"I am extremely grateful and honored to receive this prestigious award recognizing my contributions to the improvement of horse welfare in the U.S,” said Dane. “ The progress and achievements in which I have been involved could not have been possible without the support and collaboration of my colleagues at Humane World for Animals, Humane World Action Fund, partner organizations in the animal protection movement and the many individual equine advocates in the fight to end horse soring, slaughter and to increase protections for race horses."
Dane retired from his full-time role with Humane World for Animals in January 2025. He continues to support the organization in an advisory capacity.
Humane World for Animals continues to advance an aggressive, evidence-based strategy to end soring, protect racehorses and dismantle the slaughter pipeline, while strengthening enforcement and accountability across the equine industry.
