El Paso, Texas— The City of El Paso is pleased to announce the appointment of Terry Kebschull as the City’s Director of Animal Services.

Kebschull, who graduated from the El Paso Fire Academy in 1991, has risen up the ranks of the Fire Department. Kebschull was promoted to Lieutenant in 2002, was named a Captain in 2007, a Battalion Chief in 2011, and then an Assistant Chief in 2017 overseeing the Division of Capital Assets and Personnel Support. Kebschull had dedicated more than 30 years to fulfilling the critical lifesaving mission of the department, to provide emergency response, prevention, preparedness, and education to our city so they can live safely and prosper in a hazard-resilient community.

Kebschull transitioned from emergency operations duties to administration, where he worked on developing and updating policy and procedures, budgeting, strategic planning, facility oversight, fire medical oversight and development, warehousing, professional standards, data management, accreditations for the Fire Department.

As a Lean Six Sigma certified team member, Kebschull partnered with the El Paso Animal Services Department to develop controlled substance diversion policies, update procedures, and add and modify the kennels.

“Terry is an extraordinary example of the internal and dynamic talent we have at the City of El Paso. Terry has been instrumental in working on several cross-functional teams within our organization.” City Manager Tommy Gonzalez said. “In those teams, he has been a part of, that include multiple city departments; he has demonstrated strong leadership and dynamic ways of communicating across departments and into different segments of our community.”

“As an example, to the City Manager’s comments, Terry applied his innovative approach to challenges to the Shelter Reform Taskforce that implemented departmental changes leading to Animal Services’ success since 2017,” said Deputy City Manager Dionne Mack. “During the COVID-19 pandemic, Terry was a critical part of the partnership between the Fire Department and Public Health to provide contact tracing, testing, immunizations, and educational services to the entire community. He is well equipped to lead the organization into the future and to maintain an environment of cooperation with our partners and the best possible outcomes for the pets.”

Gonzalez said the City has demonstrated time and time again the strength of the organization is in the processes and organizational chart alignments that have been put into place by developing a strong succession plan and a commitment to the City’s talent pipeline management which grows leaders within the organization.

I’m honored and excited to join El Paso Animal Services in a leadership capacity, especially during a time of such innovation and change in animal welfare across the Nation. El Paso is my home, and I’ve built strong relationships in our community and have a deep commitment to working collaboratively. I find inspiration in our community’s passion and advocacy for the welfare of animals, and I’m looking forward to working together to meet the needs of animals and humans alike,” said Kebschull.

Kebschull has a Bachelor of Science from Columbia Southern University. He will begin his new role as Director of Animal Services on Monday, March 28, 2022.