Meet The Dallas Animal Advisory Commissioners

Hello fellow Dallasites! We have a dog and cat overpopulation crisis. The issue affects the greater Southern United States but we live in Dallas so let's start here!

With connection to our corresponding district city council members and influencers in the local animal advocacy scene, Dallas Animal Advisory Commissioners have the opportunity to unite city leadership in animal advocacy efforts including awareness campaigns, public safety and well being enhancements, budget allocation lobbying, and adjustment to Dallas animal rule and law.

Want to Watch The Dallas Animal Advisory Commission Meetings or Speak At Them? >>INFO HERE!

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Note: DISTRICT links below will jump to that city council person's contact page

Coming Soon: AAC Commissioner City emails, which will be linked below

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DISTRICT 1

JONATHAN SAXER

Jonathan works in finance and is adept at compliance and legalese. He and his family have lived in Texas for about 12 years by way of California by way of Florida so he has spent time in all the states with the worst dog and cat overpopulation issues. His household includes two rescue dogs one of which is famous for "boirking" instead of "barking." Jonathan’s top priority for animals in Dallas is to increase awareness of “what to do” and “how to do it” for the most pressing animal related issues in order to reduce inaction due to ignorance.

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DISTRICT 2

RACHEL GEARING

Rachel is a healthcare industry attorney who originates from California. She and her husband live in Dallas with their 4 rescue animals - 2 Great Danes, a Doberman, and a cat. Rachel has a self-admitted affinity for, "blind & deaf, massive dogs!” Rachel’s top focus as an animal advisory commissioner is twofold - to get more education to citizens about our animal issues coming directly from the city and to secure funding to build a new DAS facility.  

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DISTRICT 3

STEPHANIE M. CASEY

Stephanie founded and runs animal advocacy community, Dallas Love Bugs. With a 30-year media career including working on Hollywood Feature Films, touring the country as a musician, and producing a variety of media and events Stephanie brings communication and engagement energy to the commission. Having worked on a variety of Animal Advocacy efforts over the years, she has had a rescue animal in her home all the years of her life with the exception of her freshman year at University (no animals allowed in dorm living!). Stephanie believes change is possible... that we can fix this problem of overpopulation to curb the suffering of so many animals and humans. Let's do it!

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DISTRICT 4

AARON GOUGIS

Aaron has much experience working with City Council Members both from his participation on city committees (such as years on the DART Citizens Advisory Committee) and via his work with a non-profit lender for Real Estate. So, Aaron is a regular at City Hall and Council meetings and familiar with city processes. Involved in aspects of Community Development for a couple of decades, Aaron's top focus on the Animal Commission is community engagement and outreach.

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DISTRICT 5

BONNIE MATHIAS

(stay tuned)

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DISTRICT 6

VACANT

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DISTRICT 7

VACANT

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DISTRICT 8

BONNIE MATIAS

(stay tuned)

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DISTRICT 9

SHELBY L. BOBOSKY

Shelby is the executive director of the Texas Humane Legislation Network. Shelby guides THLN through legislative activities, at city and state levels, for change to policy and ordinances to better our laws and regulations on behalf of our animal’s wellbeing. Through her work, Texas is the first state to outlaw chains as a method of restraint and she also successfully got the  “Safe Outdoor Dogs Act” passed which made it law for an outdoor animal to have adequate food, water, and shelter. Outlawing puppy mill sales in Texas pet stores is also an effort you may have caught over the past year, which Shelby and THLN are behind! Shelby has 2 rescued pittie mixes at home and her top priority is focusing on ordinance and policy adjustment so the law reflects how we want to see animals treated.

DISTRICT 10

BONNIE HILL

Bonnie founded the Spay Neuter Network in 2004 and worked passionately for 20 years expanding awareness and availability of spay & neuter services in Texas. She retired from the organization a few years ago but now sits on SNN’s Board and remains dedicated to working on solving Texas’s dog and cat overpopulation crisis. Bonnie loves all animals but will tell you she is more of a cat person! She is especially interested in ramping up TNR (trap neuter release) efforts and when cats are trapped which are clearly not feral - getting those felines homed VS released!

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DISTRICT 11

ELIZABETH SCHRUPP

(stay tuned)

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DISTRICT 12

LISA FAULKNER-DUNNE

Lisa is President of The DAWG Project. DAWG was founded in response to the death of Antoinette Brown who was killed by a pack of stray dogs in South Dallas in 2016. DAWG focuses efforts in South Dallas distributing food, getting dogs spayed/neutered, providing fencing and such in addition to being a foster-based rescue for dogs pulled from the shelter system. Lisa started her career in Dallas politics working at the Mayor’s office and went on to found her own PR Agency. She loves all the dogs but has a sweet spot for Huskies! Lisa is passionate about helping at the core of our dog overpopulation crisis (which is all about people) and wisely focused on our region needing the most help (South Dallas).

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DISTRICT 13

JOE JOHN (JAY) GONZALEZ

Jay has lived in Dallas for just shy of 40 years, is the owner of Dallas Hair By Jay, and is serving his second term on the Animal Advisory Commission. Jay's husband works for DISD and between them - they have a home very active in Dallas culture and making our city a better place! Dog dad to 5 pups at home, Jay values his role as an animal commissioner for the opportunity to create awareness around our animal issues and serve as a public voice for Dallas Animal Services' challenges, needs, and potential for continued growth and community support.

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DISTRICT 14

KAREN SANDERS

(stay tuned)

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"DISTRICT 15" (this seat is appointed by the Mayor of Dallas)

SANA SYED

Sana is a PR executive and former staff for the City of Dallas PIO department. PIO stands for “public information officer” and is the city’s PR division. When Sana was a city staff member she worked on a huge awareness campaign on behalf of Dallas’s animals and animal services. We so need something like this to happen again which makes Sana's experience, here, very valuable! Sana is a dog mom to two dogs at home and the local animal issue which pains her most is euthanizing for space so she is eager to work on the underlying problems which cause this.

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Find Your City Council Member and Their Contact Info

Each DISTRICT link above jumps to that district's city council member's website page with their contact info! Not sure which Dallas City Council District you are in? Check out the city district map.

Here is a list of all current City Council Members and the Mayor's office