ETHEL STROTHER

Ethel has been in the animal care and control field for 20 years,15 of those serving on the TACA board of directors as both a Director and as President. Her experience in animal cruelty investigations and prosecution include one of Texas largest puppy mill raids, where over 543 dogs, 18 cats, and a goat were seized. She has consulted with numerous Cities across Texas in large scale animal seizures, emergency sheltering, and evidence processing. 

Ethel is a National Responder with American Humane, HSUS, and Red Rovers, and holds certifications in TLAER, Code III Associates ASAR Flood Water/Slack Water/Boat Ops, Pet CPR/First Aide and Equine rescue. She has an Associates Degree in General Animal Science, and has been a Veterinary Technician for over 30 years. 

Cruelty Investigations is one of Ethel's passions and she has been trained by the ASPCA Cruelty Investigations Team, Animal Forensic Science, R.A.I.D.E.R., and is a TCLOSE Basic Instructor.

JAMEY CANTRELL

Jamey Cantrell began his career working with animals as a veterinary technician in 1993.  This led to a job as a Kennel Technician for the Humane Society of North Texas in 1995.  He learned to perform every service the shelter provided, from adoptions to emergency rescues of injured animals to cruelty investigations, and worked his way up to the position of Staff Coordinator in 1997.  

After a brief stint as the sole Animal Control Officer for the City of Benbrook, Jamey was lured back to HSNT where he took over the position of Director of Shelter Operations.  He held that position for five years, managing the day to day operations of the largest full-service animal shelter in North Texas, until leaving in July of 2003 to become the Animal Services Manager for the City of Lubbock.  Despite making huge improvements in that city’s program, he and his family wanted to return to the D/FW area so he accepted the position of Animal Control Supervisor for the City of Bedford in July 2004.  He led Bedford to the prestigious Texas Animal Control Association’s Animal Control & Welfare Agency of the Year award for 2005 despite the fact that one third of his staff was laid off due to budget cuts that year.  

In early 2007, Jamey accepted his current position of Animal Services Manager for the City of Plano where he has expanded the shelter’s outreach, volunteer, and education programs and reduced the city’s euthanasia rate to less than 8% of all domestic animals handled – all of which led to additional recognition from the Texas Animal Control Association when Plano was selected as the Animal Control & Welfare Agency of the Year in 2010.  

Jamey has wide-ranging experience that was gained through more than three decades of working in animal shelters.  He has managed small (1-6 employees), medium (20-25 employees), and large (50+ employees) shelters, a private shelter run entirely on donations, a private shelter with municipal contracts, and tax-funded municipal agencies.  He has performed every task possible in an animal shelter, from cleaning cages to investigative field work to administration and has operated agencies with budgets under $100,000 to over $2 million.  He is a certified Animal Control Officer at the Basic, Advanced, and Administrative levels and is an instructor for the Texas Certified Cruelty Investigator program.   He holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Texas at Arlington and a Master of Science in Human Relations and Business from Amberton University.  He also is a certified mediator, has disaster response training through the United Animal Nations, has completed multiple NIMS and ICS training courses, and has obtained numerous hours of leadership and management training.

MELISSA DRAPER, DVM

Dr. Draper is a graduate of Louisiana Tech University in Animal Science and a 1993 graduate of Louisiana State University-School of Veterinary Medicine. She is currently a candidate for her Master's Degree at the University of Florida in Veterinary Forensic Sciences.  

Dr. Draper was a 2013 recipient of the Eslinger Shelter Medicine Fellowship. She began working for the Animal Defense League, a no-kill, non-profit agency, as a shelter veterinarian in 2000.   She has worked in Animal Control since 2007, serving as Chief Veterinarian for the City of San Antonio, Corpus Christi, and Brownsville TX.  Her experiences in shelter medicine include: Rabies control, community engagement and live release increase,  high-volume, high-quality surgery, shelter medicine, animal cruelty/forensics, and pain management.  She frequently trains interns in pre-veterinary medicine, veterinary technologists/technicians, and veterinary school students.