PCT: What’s the best piece of advice
you would give?
KS: Respect other people, take care of
your parents, and pray every day.
PCT: What is the coolest thing you
feel you have done in your life?
KS: Travelled to Maine, Vermont, and
Massachusetts in the fall several years
ago. It was a wonderful trip. I want to
do it again.
Stacey Schumacher
CEO/Founder of Texas Coali-
tion for Animal Protection, a
Non-profit Organization that
Provides Affordable Spaying,
Neutering, Vaccinations and
Other Basic Pet Care Services
would take them because at the time
I had an internship in Downtown
Dallas for a PR firm. I was taking
animals to a local spay and neuter in
Dallas and then pick them up after
my shift was over and I’d take them
back home and people would come
and get them.
That program is still there, although
I have nothing to do with it now. I
went to grad school at SMU and into
corporate America, which I learned
that passing paper was not my exper-
tise. I worked for GTE and they had
a management buyout. They actually
paid me to leave, so I took the money
and that’s when I opened TCAP in
2002. In the beginning, it was one
day a week for a few hours. I really
dedicated myself to it full time and
did a clinic in Denton and soon start-
ed opening clinics.
PCT: So are you a vet?
SS: I am not a vet. I get the opportu-
nity to row the boat. I have a ton of
people around me who are totally
good at what they do… My job is to
keep everything going.
PCT: What is your favorite novel?
SS: I don’t really read much non-
fiction. I really don’t have time. I
have a nine-week-old baby and a
nine-year-old son.
84
Parker County Today: How did you
get into your current occupation?
SS: When I was in high school, I
started volunteering at Arbuckle
Animal Shelter. A group of friends
and I brought back a defunct program
called the Hopkins County Animal
Protection League. I got out of school
and really started to see that you
could not adopt your way out of the
pet overpopulation and there was a
pet population problem. I did that
for a little while. In 1996, I opened
a spay and neuter clinic in Sulphur
Springs.
I had developed a theme that “You
cannot adopt out the overpopulation
problem with animals” and I knew
in order to be successful, I had to do
something that was affordable and
attainable. People would bring their
animals to my mom’s garage and she
PCT: What do you do to decompress?
SS: We raise and market registered
Texas Longhorn cattle. They’re our
hobby and our love! They’re so beau-
tiful!
PCT: What is something people don’t
know about you?
SS: Probably that I’m really an intro-
vert.
PCT: What’s the best piece of advice
you would give to someone starting
out in your field?
SS: It feels good to do a good thing. I
now have seven locations, including
the one in Weatherford and this is the
most innovative approach to animal
control. In 2018, my goal was 55k
spay and neuters and, if all continues
to go the way it has, we are going
to end 2018 with having done 56k
spays and neuters.
PCT: What is the coolest thing you
have done in your life?
SS: Becoming a mother. Nothing else
compares.
Judd White
Judd is the general manager of
Texas Butane
Parker County Today: How did you
get into your occupation?
JW: I grew up riding on the propane
truck with my dad every winter break
from 12-18 years old, then I went off
to school at Texas A&M and then to
Louisville Kentucky. I came home to
gather some of my things because I
was going to go back. In the mean-
time, I worked at the store and then
a guy at work changed careers and
suddenly, I became the head ditch
digger. Family business is a little like
the Mafia, once you’re in it, there’s
no getting out. Once I realized I was
not getting out, I really put myself
into it. The best part about the job is
that you get to work with family and
the worst part about the job is that
you get to work with family.
PCT: What is your favorite novel?
JW: I really got into the “Game of
Thrones” series, it has seven books to
it. Lately, I read to my kids and “Pete
the Cat” is my go to book right now.
He’s pretty cool.
PCT: What do you do to decompress?
JW: I really like to barbecue. I have
no other hobbies, but putting a bris-
ket on the smoker for like 12 hours.
Keeping the fire at a steady pace. The
neighborhood gets quiet, all is good.
PCT: What is something people don’t