New World Screwworm in Texas and Its Impact on Companion Animals
Please note: This webinar was recorded on July 8, 2026. Because the New World screwworm situation is evolving, some information may have changed since the recording. Please continue to seek the latest updates from the Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners (TBVME), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC).
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Presented by Texas Humane Legislation Network (THLN), join shelter veterinary experts and humane society professionals for an important discussion on the emerging New World screwworm situation in Texas and its implications for companion animals, shelters, and rescue organizations.
As New World screwworm quarantines, inspection requirements, and receiving-state restrictions continue to impact animal movement, interstate transport options for Texas shelters and rescues have become increasingly limited. This webinar will provide timely updates on current regulations, explain why some organizations have implemented voluntary transport suspensions, and explore how shelters and rescues are adapting to these challenges.
Participants will gain a clearer understanding of transport requirements, animal health considerations, and best practices for protecting animals while maintaining public confidence. Whether you are a shelter or rescue professional, advocate, pet owner, or community partner, this session will offer practical insights and guidance for navigating this evolving situation.
Featured Panelists
Amanda Earl, MBA, CAW
Assistant Director, Dallas Animal ServicesAmanda Earl is the Assistant Director of Operations for Dallas Animal Services, where she oversees shelter, field, and medical operations for one of the nation’s largest municipal animal shelters. With more than 20 years of experience in animal welfare and municipal sheltering, she has focused her career on advancing lifesaving programs, improving operational efficiency, and promoting evidence-based, data-driven shelter practices across both municipal and nonprofit settings. She is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Veterinary Medical Sciences with a concentration in Shelter Medicine at the University of Florida, with a focus on capacity for care and sustainable population management in large shelters. Amanda is passionate about collaborative partnerships and developing practical solutions that improve outcomes for animals, staff, and the communities they serve.
Greg Evans
Senior Director of Operations, Houston HumaneGreg Evans is a Marine Veteran and has been with the Houston Humane Society since 2009. Greg is a Capella University graduate and has also obtained his Airman Certificate. He leads a dedicated team that offers many services to community members and their families. He is also responsible for the disaster response efforts during times of emergencies that affect the Greater Houston area and our neighbors. The Community Impact department continues to expand its programs, offering services to more community members each year. The programs in Community Impact include the Southeast Texas LINK Coalition, the Harris County Animal Cruelty Taskforce, the Pets for Life program, the Pet Resource Department, and outreach initiatives.
Aaron Grady
Shelter Director, Houston HumaneAaron Grady is the Shelter Director at the Houston Humane Society, where he has served since February 2023. He holds a degree in Psychology from Texas State University and brings six years of prior leadership experience as Director of Operations at the San Antonio Humane Society, where he helped more than 26,000 homeless pets find loving homes. He is a strong advocate for barrier-free, education-based adoption practices and has focused his career on building innovative shelter programs that improve animal welfare, reduce length of stay, and expand access to responsible pet ownership resources. Aaron also has extensive experience in crisis management, budgeting, staffing, and facility development, including major shelter improvement and medical expansion projects, and has been a member of The Association for Animal Welfare Advancement since 2017.
Dr. Melissa Stansell
Veterinarian, Austin Pets Alive!Dr. Stansell works as a veterinarian in the community as well as on the staff of APA! She is on the front lines of helping shelters across TX that lack resources to find live outcomes for the pets in their care through transport and bringing them supplies. She helped pets in need through the setup of a MASH-style clinic during the devastating Hill Country Floods. In her spare time, she fosters dogs and finds them loving homes. She graduated from A&M in 2015.
Mia Bendixsen, J.D.
Executive Director, THLNMia Bendixsen is an attorney and seasoned nonprofit leader with more than 20 years of experience in fundraising, strategic management, and community engagement. She has held senior leadership roles with nationally recognized organizations, including the American Red Cross, the Humane Society of the United States, and the Boy Scouts of America, and has a longstanding commitment to animal welfare through board service and disaster response efforts that protect pets and keep families together during emergencies. Based in Austin, Mia lives with her fiancé, Michael, and their two rescue dogs, Mishka and Riley.
Kolby Monnig
Senior Director of Government Relations, THLNKolby Monnig is a government relations and public policy professional serving as Senior Director of Government Relations for THLN, where she leads the organization’s state legislative and public affairs efforts to advance animal welfare policy across Texas. With extensive experience in legislative strategy, advocacy, coalition building, and public affairs, she has built a reputation for navigating complex policy issues, fostering bipartisan relationships, and developing collaborative solutions that create meaningful impact. Based in the Austin area, Kolby lives with her husband, Kyle, and their three rescue dogs, Puddles, Ziggy, and Wiggles, and is passionate about animal welfare, public service, and strengthening communities across Texas.
Thursday, December 31, 2026 at 12:00 PM0 RSVPs
Recognizing the Role of Texas Animal Control Professionals as First Responders
Texas animal control professionals (animal field services, animal care, animal protection, etc.) have roles rooted in community engagement, public safety, and animal welfare, as they have been on the frontline of protecting communities. Their roles have expanded to include providing community support and outreach, investigating animal cruelty and neglect, and saving animals (and sometimes their owners) in immediate danger. However, under Texas law, professionals in Texas animal control are not considered “first responders.”
THLN believes that animal control professionals play a crucial role in maintaining public safety and ensuring the well-being of both humans and animals in our communities, and as such, they should be considered first responders. By advocating for a first responder classification, animal control professionals can educate their communities and advocate for receiving training, resources, and equipment necessary to perform the critical services they provide to their communities.
This forty-five-minute webinar will include a background on the role of animal control professionals and how they are already performing first responder tasks, how to educate their communities and local leaders on their roles, and how to advocate for a Texas animal control professional to be considered a first responder and along with a Q&A at the end.
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Friday, January 01, 2027 at 12:00 PM25 RSVPs
Celebrating 5 Years of the Safe Outdoor Dogs Act: Making It Work in Your Community
The Safe Outdoor Dogs Act (SODA) is a Texas animal law that took effect January 18, 2022. It replaced an ineffective tethering law by establishing statewide minimum standards to protect dogs left outdoors from extreme weather, requiring adequate shelter and potable water, and banning harmful restraints such as heavy chains. It also allows authorities to enforce violations related to heatstroke or freezing conditions immediately, without a 24-hour waiting period.
Every year, more than 1,100 cities in Texas hire new animal control and law enforcement officers, and many remain unaware of the Safe Outdoor Dogs Act. The webinar will cover the basics of SODA, best practices for implementation, how to strengthen SODA in your city through an ordinance, and how to make the law work for your community. There will also be a discussion of how SODA illustrates the difficulty of passing animal legislation in Texas.
Our Panel
Courtney Burns, CAWA, Chief Investigator, Animal Cruelty Investigations Unit, SPCA, Criminal Investigator, Hunt County Sheriff’s Office, and Chair, Dallas County Animal Response Team
Jamey Cantrell, President of the Texas Animal Control Association and Director of Animal Services, City of Plano, Texas
Art Munoz, Director of Animal Services, City of Garland, Texas
Octavio Gonzalez, Senior Investigator, Houston SPCA
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Friday, January 01, 2027 at 12:00 PM2 RSVPs
The Future of Access to Veterinary Care in Texas Webinar
Did you know that Texas has more than 30 million people and has 51 counties with zero veterinarians? Due to the current veterinarian shortage in Texas, there is no way to meet the current demand for the roughly 20 million dogs and cats in homes and in shelters across our state. This presentation will focus on the future of veterinary medicine by analyzing the current national landscape, examining the progress being made in other states, and looking at survey data from pet owners.
Our panel will also discuss the future of veterinary telemedicine in Texas, recent case law, and how it can benefit your shelter and rescue.
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Featured Panelists
Dr. Roberta Westbrook
Chief Animal Welfare and Medical Officer of Houston SPCA
Dr. Roberta Westbrook is a Chief Animal Welfare and Medical Officer at Houston SPCA based in Houston, Texas. Previously, Roberta was an Associate Veterinarian at Palm to Paws Veterinary Clinic and held positions at Vet Tech Institute of Houston. Roberta received a Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Missouri.
Katie Jarl
Vice President of Government Relations of Animal Policy Group
Katie Jarl is the Vice President of Government Relations. She has dedicated nearly two decades to the advancement of key animal welfare and healthcare policies and initiatives through advocacy campaigns at the local, state, and national levels. Utilizing her unique background in government affairs, media relations, and community engagement, Katie brings a fresh, strategic approach to policy initiatives.
Jaime Olin
THLN Vice President and Legislative Chair
Jaime is currently a partner with the Dallas law firm Skiermont Derby, practicing patent and commercial litigation. Before that, she worked as a Legal Advocacy Counsel with the ASPCA, focusing on animal welfare litigation, animal cruelty prosecution support, and equine welfare issues. She’s taught courses and given countless presentations on animal cruelty laws, the LINK, and various other animal law topics.Friday, January 01, 2027 at 05:00 PM13 RSVPs
Common Legal Pitfalls That Rescue Groups Can Avoid
Animal rescue is a noble cause well worth the investment rescuers make. Learn how to keep your rescue focused on that mission by avoiding the most common legal "pitfalls" that cost money and damage an organization's brand.
While there are no national or Texas State laws specifically regulating rescues, other state laws and municipal ordinances do apply to rescue groups. Randy Turner will present what every rescuer needs to know about ownership issues, avoiding litigation, complying with laws regarding non-profit organizations and generally staying out of legal hot water.
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Tuesday, June 01, 2027 at 05:00 PM54 RSVPs
Webinar Update on New Laws and Service & Emotional Support Animals
Animal Law Expert and Animal Lawyer Randy Turner provides an update to changes to laws and service animals and emotional support animals.
Under Texas law and the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), people with disabilities may bring their service animals to all public accommodations, such as government buildings, hotels, restaurants, stadiums, and stores. These laws also require those who operate transportation services to allow service animals. But recent trends show confusion with emotional support animals and the varying definitions.
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Tuesday, June 01, 2027 at 06:00 PM21 RSVPs
Deep Dive into Texas Animal Bills
PRESENTER: Jaime Olin
With so many bills filed each session, it can be difficult to know which ones really matter, and how they will impact Texas animals if passed. This webinar will explore several key pieces of legislation that will be at the Capitol in 2021, including the Safe Outdoor Dogs bill, the Licensed Breeders Program, the Working Animals bill, and the Possession Ban bill. We’ll talk about the details and importance of each bill, the implications to animals, and answer any of your questions so you’ll be armed with all the relevant information as we make our way into the Session.
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Wednesday, February 28, 2029 at 12:00 PM26 RSVPs
How to Keep People & their Pets Together as the COVID-19 Crisis Deepens
As the country continues to suffer the effects of COVID-19, the animal welfare field is evolving the way we respond to crises and offer community support. Housing insecurity, although not new, has been exacerbated by the pandemic. Learn about how the animal welfare community is responding to the eviction crisis and how you can get involved to help keep people and their pets together.
Special guest, Lauren Loney, Texas State Director for the Humane Society of the United States, discusses how to keep people and their pets together as the COVID crisis deepens.
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Thursday, March 01, 2029 at 06:00 PM6 RSVPs
The ABC's of Texas Puppy Mills
Check out this webinar to hear from Mindi Callison, Executive Director, of Bailing Out Benji. Mindi will discuss all things puppy mills and focus on the ABCs of puppy mills, why regulating puppy mills is important, and why Texas is unique in terms of selling puppies from puppy mills in other states. Learn what we need to do now as advocates to help protect dogs currently in large-scale breeding facilities in Texas.
Mindi Callison is the Founder and Executive Director of the National nonprofit organization, Bailing Out Benji which focuses on the grassroots effort to combat the puppy mill industry. Mindi founded Bailing Out Benji at 21 years old after falling victim to the puppy mill industry by way of a local pet store, which offered her a credit card with high interest. Upon learning about the pet store/puppy mill connection and learning about the predatory lending practices that these stores utilize to take advantage of low-income families, Mindi knew that she needed to act. Bailing Out Benji and its research has been instrumental in passing humane ordinances across the country, they have also been one of the driving forces behind exposing the national puppy laundering scheme that is currently happening in numerous states.
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Saturday, March 17, 2029 at 05:00 PM23 RSVPs
Texas Civil Seizure Law for Animals: Texas' Best Kept Secret
Under Texas law, animals seized as evidence under the Texas Penal Code may be held for long periods of time while the arrested violator’s criminal trial makes its way through the justice system. Many don't know about the civil seizure law wherein abused animals can be seized under the Texas Health and Safety Code, which carries less of a burden of proof, no arrest, and allows the animals' disposition within a ten-day period, pending any appeals. In this webinar, learn all about the Texas civil seizure law, when to use it and how it is a great alternative in removing cruelly treated animals.
Animal lawyer and animal law expert Lara Tomlin is an appellate attorney at the Denton County District Attorney's office. She is board certified in Criminal Appellate Law and handles animal-related cases, including seizure hearings for cruelly treated animals. She has also served on the Denton Animal Support Foundation board of directors, an organization that supports the Denton Animal Shelter.
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