Texas Humane Legislation Network (THLN) is an animal liberation advocacy group which focuses on legislation involving animal rights in the state of Texas. THLN lobbies and participate in partisan activities, allowing the group to influence legislation in support of its animal rights agenda. ¹

THLN has lobbied to pass the Anti-Gassing Law, the Mandatory Canine Encounter Training Law, and the Animal Cruelty Enhancement Law. ² Its legislative agenda includes pet leashing laws, and protecting wild horses and burros, in conjunction with the American Wild Horse Campaign. ³

Activities

THLN actively lobbies the Texas Legislature to pass bills favorable to its animal liberation agenda. Currently, THLN wants more regulations added to Texas’s “Unlawful Restraint of Dogs” legislation from 2007, which established standards for the sheltering and care of restrained dogs. THLN is also actively advocating for legislation to end “pet leasing,” accusing certain pet retailers of participating in predatory lending schemes. ⁴

In 2018, THLN joined with other animal advocacy organizations, aligned with the American Wild Horse Campaign, in a statement accusing the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) of mismanaging wild horses and burros in the U.S. The statement makes “recommendations” for things such as prohibiting sterilization to control overpopulation, allocating more land for wild horses, and protecting other animals considered predators, like mountain lions and wolves. ⁵

THLN also urges its supporters to support multiple federal bills. This includes the Pet and Women Safety (PAWS) Act, which seeks protection for animals in domestic violence situations; the Help Extract Animals from Red Tape (HEART) Act, which seeks to expedite animal fighting cases; the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act, which seeks to add federal felony animal abuse statutes where similar state statutes already exist; and the Support the Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act, which seeks to prohibit the slaughter of horses for food in the U.S. and for export. ⁶

People

Staff

Christine Perry is Texas Humane Legislation Network’s director of Education and Outreach, formerly served on the legislative committee, and is a former grassroots coordinator. ⁷

Shelby Bobosky has been the interim executive since October 1, 2019. Bobosky formerly served on the board of THLN, and has served in the roles of president, vice president, and legislative chair, where she provided legal, and legislative research, as well as testimony for THLN. Bobosky formerly co-chaired the Animal Welfare Committee of the Dallas Association of Young Lawyers. ⁸

Board of Directors

Jaime Olin formerly worked as legal advocacy counsel with the ASPCA, a major national animal rights group. ⁹

Kathy Davis is the former Director of Animal Care Services for both the City of San Antonio and the City of Los Angeles. Davis has also formerly served as the Director of Code Enforcement and Animal Services for both the cities of Dallas and South Bend, Indiana. ¹⁰

Stephen Hurst is the treasurer of the board, the chairman of the THLN Grassroots Committee, and a fundraiser and grant writer for several animal rescue organizations around Dallas. ¹¹

Other Board members include Elisabeth Rutledge, Jennifer Bassman Rogers, Mona Thaxton, and Stephen Phillips. ¹²

Advisory Board

Cile Holloway served as the president of the board of THLN for more than forty years. ¹³

Glynda Ray serves on the board of the Animal Services Center Advisory Board (ASCAB). ¹⁴

Julie Caramante investigates cruelty against horses, and led a campaign to close the slaughterhouse Dallas Crown for allegedly slaughtering horses for human consumption. ¹⁵

Lisa Gilchrist is the president of the Board of Homeless and Orphaned Pets Endeavor (HOPE). ¹⁶

Sherry Ferguson is the executive director of the Houston Humane Society. The Houston Press reported on allegations of mismanagement and misconduct at Houston Humane Society in 2017: It alleged that Ferguson was “rarely onsite, sometimes disappearing for months at a time.” ¹⁷

Whitney Hanson is a business manager at Dallas Animal Services. Hanson formerly worked as director of fund development for the Spay Neuter Network, director of development and communications for the Humane Society of North Texas, and in the marketing department of the Austin Humane Society. ¹⁸

Jack Knox sits on the Advisory Committee to the City of Dallas Animal Shelter Commission and on the board of the Independent Petroleum Association of America. ¹⁹

Erin Shults is the founder and CEO of Mazie’s Mission, a non-profit animal rescue hospital. ²⁰

Robert “Skip” Trimble formerly served on the board of the Animal Legal Defense Fund, a litigation group seeking to secure legal “personhood” for animals; was the chair of the Dallas Animal Shelter Commission; and helped to establish an Animal Cruelty Prosecutor for the District Attorney’s Office in Dallas County. Trimble also previously worked for the U.S. Department of Justice. ²¹

1. “About Us.” Texas Humane Legislation Network, 2019. Accessed February 5, 2020. https://www.thln.org/about.
2. “Staff and Partners.” Texas Humane Legislation Network, 2019. Accessed February 5, 2020. https://www.thln.org/staff.
3. “Legislative Priorities.” Texas Humane Legislation Network, 2019. Accessed February 5, 2020.  https://www.thln.org/legislative-priorities.
4. “Legislative Priorities.” Texas Humane Legislation Network, 2019. Accessed July 29, 2020.  https://www.thln.org/legislative-priorities.
5. “Moving Forward: A Unified Statement on the Humane, Sustainable, and Cost-Effective On-Range Management of America’s Wild Horses and Burros.” Texas Humane Legislation Network, February 2018, Accessed July 29, 2020. https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/texashumane/pages/90/attachments/original/1519768191/MovingForward-UnitedStatement_2_14__V3.pdf?1519768191.
6. “Legislative Priorities.” Texas Humane Legislation Network, 2019. Accessed July 29, 2020.  https://www.thln.org/legislative-priorities.
7. “Staff and Partners.” Texas Humane Legislation Network, 2019. Accessed February 5, 2020. https://www.thln.org/staff.
8. “Staff and Partners.” Texas Humane Legislation Network, 2019. Accessed February 5, 2020. https://www.thln.org/staff.
9. “Board of Directors.” Texas Humane Legislation Network, 2019. Accessed February 5, 2020. https://www.thln.org/directors.
10. “Board of Directors.” Texas Humane Legislation Network, 2019. Accessed February 5, 2020. https://www.thln.org/directors.
11. “Board of Directors.” Texas Humane Legislation Network, 2019. Accessed February 5, 2020. https://www.thln.org/directors.
12. “Board of Directors.” Texas Humane Legislation Network, 2019. Accessed February 5, 2020. https://www.thln.org/directors.
13. “Cile Holloway.” LinkedIn. Accessed February 5, 2020. https://www.linkedin.com/in/cile-holloway-78007a14/.
14. “Animal Services Center Advisory Board (ASCAB).” City of Arlington, Texas. Accessed February 5, 2020. https://www.arlingtontx.gov/city_hall/departments/animal_services/events/animal_services_center_advisory_board.
15. “Horse Slaughter.” Sonoma Action for Equine Rescue.” Accessed February 5, 2020. https://www.saferhorse.com/slaughter.htm.
16. “About Us.” Homeless & Orphaned Pets Endeavor. Accessed February 5, 2020. https://www.homelesspets.net/about-us/.
17. Malisow, Craig. “As Houston Humane Society Troubles Mount, Board Stays Silent.” HoustonPress, March 7, 2017. Accessed February 5, 2020. https://www.houstonpress.com/news/as-houston-humane-society-troubles-mount-board-stays-silent-9255261.
18. “Whitney Hanson.” LinkedIn. Accessed February 5, 2020. https://www.linkedin.com/in/whitneymhanson/.
19. “$1.5 Million Gift from Jack Knox to Fund New Dedman Law Faculty Chair for Children’s Rights, Protection.” Southern Methodist University, October 24, 2014. Accessed February 5, 2020. https://www.smu.edu/News/2014/jack-knox-gift-to-law-24oct2014.
20. “Our Story.” Mazie’s Mission. Accessed February 5, 2020. https://www.maziesmission.org/our-story.
21. “Robert ‘Skip’ Trimble.” The Animal Legal Defense Fund. Accessed February 5, 2020. https://aldf.org/person/robert-skip-trimble/.