Staff Spotlight: Meredith Jones, VP of Animal Welfare

We’re so proud to announce that our previous Director of Clinic Services, is now our Vice President of Animal Welfare. Please join us in welcoming Meredith Jones to the Leadership team. We’d like to introduce you to Meredith so you can learn a bit more about one of the wonderful people leading our organization.

About Meredith: 

Meredith Jones joined the SPCA of Texas in February of 2016. She has an extensive background in grassroots advocacy and activism, leadership experience with nationally-renowned animal welfare organizations, and has fought passionately for equal access for underserved pets and their people throughout her career.  Prior to joining the SPCA of Texas, Meredith managed spay/neuter and community pet program grants at PetSmart Charities; oversaw the opening of a Humane Alliance-affiliated spay/neuter clinic; managed the daily operations of one of North Carolina’s most successful mobile spay/neuter clinics; and was a charter member of the nationally-acclaimed community outreach organization, Beyond Fences. As Vice President of Operations for the SPCA of Texas, Meredith strives to ensure that all programs are dedicated to providing accessible, compassionate, and nonjudgmental assistance in order to: strengthen the bond between pets and their owners; keep pets in their homes; eliminate economic euthanasia; improve the health and quality of life for all pets in our target communities; and provide every animal exceptional care and a loving home.

Meredith graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a bachelor’s degree in Government and from Duke University with a master’s degree in Political Science.  She resides in Dallas with her husband.

We asked Meredith a few questions about herself so we could all get to know her better!

Why/how did you get into animal welfare? 

Growing up, my granddad would load me into his station wagon long before dawn on the weekends and we would ride around Oklahoma, taking in gun-shy dogs that hunters deemed worthless.  Many years after his passing, I still can hear him say, “Meredith, all I need to know about a man is how he treats the dog at his side.”  When I was in graduate school in Durham, NC, I volunteered with a group that would build fences for chained dogs in the community.  It was during this time when I realized that there is no correlation between a person’s income and how much they could love their pets.  Unfortunately, in an area where there were not many affordable or accessible pet care options, I witnessed that there was a strong correlation, however, between a person’s income and how much others thought they could love their pets.  After spending more time volunteering than studying in graduate school, I knew that my calling was to help pets and their people living in poverty and to one day provide affordable and accessible pet care options for all pet owners, regardless of income.

What are your other hobbies or passions?

I very much enjoy being active and after dabbling in Muay Thai and Crossfit for many years, I now really enjoy Baptiste yoga, sprinting at the track, and out-swimming my husband.  I also am always reading at least two books simultaneously: one very thought-provoking and respectable personal development book and one terrible, B-level horror or sci-fi book (think Tremors 5: the novel).  I would consider online shopping a passion of mine, while my husband might consider it an addiction.  I also enjoy decorating (I come from a family of interior decorators), baking cookies, and watching every Christmas-themed Hallmark movie ever made.

What are you most looking forward to for the SPCA of Texas in 2020?

I enjoy being part of a team that is able to continually assess and respond to both the community and animal welfare industry needs.  I am thrilled that we will be launching our fourth year of our spay/neuter and community initiatives in southern Dallas; it has been amazing to see the hearts and minds of pet owners and non-pet owners alike evolve over the past 3 years.  With that, the needs of the community as they relate to the resources needed to help keep pets in their homes, to help find loving homes for homeless pets, and more, are always changing and I am excited to be a part of such a forward-thinking and passionate team that enjoys evolving with the community.  We have some truly amazing things happening on a daily basis throughout all parts of our organization and I look forward to being able to share some of the innovative and exciting ways we are saving lives.

Stay tuned for more staff and volunteer spotlights – we’re eager to introduce you to more of the faces that make our organization so special!