Paws to Hooves Connection
Board and Officers
The dedicated minds guiding our commitment to animals as emotional, thinking beings.
President
Susan Krebsbach, DVM
Dr. Susan Krebsbach is a veterinarian, animal welfare expert, and behavioral consultant with more than 30 years of experience advancing the wellbeing of animals across species and settings.
Her work integrates veterinary medicine, behavioral science, and welfare assessment to support legal petitions and cruelty investigations, provide expert testimony, and guide organizational advocacy and public policy. She has held national leadership roles, contributed to landmark access to care initiatives, and provided extensive teaching and public education across veterinary, legal, and animal welfare communities.
She brings a rigorous, evidence based, and compassionate approach to evaluating animal welfare and guiding policy, practice, and decision making.
As the founder and Executive Director of Paws to Hooves Connection, Dr. Krebsbach is deeply committed to strengthening the human–animal bond through science based education, collaborative advocacy, and community engagement.
Her enthusiasm for this work—illuminating the similarities between companion and farm animals in ways that foster empathy, inspire informed choices, and advance animal welfare—reflects her lifelong
dedication to creating a world where animals are treated with compassion, respect, and understanding—and where people are empowered to champion their wellbeing.
Secretary
Barbara Hodges, DVM, MBA
Dr. Barbara Hodges attended veterinary school at the University of California, Davis,
externed at the Marin County (CA) Humane Society and the Animal Medical Center in
New York City and completed post-doctoral studies at the Chi Institute of Traditional
Chinese Veterinary Medicine (now Chi University).
She conducts legislative advocacy and outreach on behalf of the Humane Veterinary
Medical Alliance (HumaneVMA), the veterinary division of Humane World for Animals.
Among a range of farmed animal welfare issues, in 2018 Dr. Hodges successfully
advocated for California’s Proposition 12 (the Farm Animal Confinement initiative) which
grants breeding pigs, egg-laying hens and calves raised for veal minimum housing
space that allows them to stand up, turn around and spread their limbs. It also bans the
sale of animal products within the state if the source animals were raised in non-Prop
12-compliant conditions. She has continued to oppose Big Ag attempts at overturning
Prop 12 up to, through and beyond the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the
landmark law in 2023.
Dr. Hodges has also supported ending the production of pate de foie gras via the forced
feeding of ducks and geese, and its sale. She believes horses should be seen as
companion animals rather than livestock and has lobbied to end the shipment of
American horses to slaughter plants in Mexico and Canada to produce horsemeat for
human consumption in Europe and Asia.
Dr. Hodges has also worked on efforts focused on ending cosmetic and convenience
surgeries, reducing the use of animals in research and testing and promoting the
adoption of research animals, regulating puppy and kitten mills and the practice of dog
tethering, ending egregious hunting and trapping practices on free-ranging wildlife, and
advocating for captive wildlife welfare issues such as ending the use of animals in
traveling shows and entertainment and eliminating the use of the bull hook on
elephants.
Her dear companion animal is her Terrier/Chihuahua/Pomeranian/Italian Greyhound mix
rescue dog, Bella Bru.
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Lilly Irvin-Vitela, MCRP
Treasurer
Lilly Irvin-Vitela, MCRP, is the president and owner of Community Connects Consulting, LLC.
The practice provides support to nonprofits, governments, and select for profits on community and organizational development issues that center the voices of those most impacted in decision making and systems change.
She has an undergraduate degree in political science and philosophy and a Master’s in Community and Regional Planning.
While a significant part of her work focuses on civil and human rights, Lilly understands that there is a strong connection between how we treat all of creation and one another. This belief in the importance of and respect for all of creation and the need for healing and justice are core to her commitment to serving on the board of directors for Paws to Hooves.
Darci Bryan
Board Member
Darci Bryan has spent her life loving animals and telling their stories through art. As a board member of Paws to Hooves Connection, she's proud to support a mission close to her heart: helping people see the shared spirit between the pets we cherish and the farm animals so often overlooked, inspiring more compassion along the way.
For forty years, Darci has painted in acrylics and oils, and today leads her own studio, Art Studio with Darci, where she turns pet owners' stories into heartfelt portraits that capture their furry friends' unique personalities and legacies. Her studio is also a teaching venue, bringing the joy of art classes into senior living facilities so more people can experience the creativity and connection painting provides.
Her home has always had room for one more rescue, and those animals often find their way into her art too. When she's not painting, Darci runs High Tech Heating & A/C Inc., putting the same heart and dedication into her
business as she does into her studio and her advocacy for animals.