AUSTIN, TX – Dr. Dee Ellis, State Veterinarian and Executive Director of the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC), has announced that he will retire December 31, ending his more than 30 years of service to the state’s livestock and poultry health regulatory agency. Dr. Ellis first joined the TAHC as an Animal Health Inspector in 1977 while completing a bachelor degree in Animal Science. After obtaining his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Texas A&M University, Ellis returned to the agency in 1985 as a field veterinarian. In 1986, he was promoted to Region Director for Central Texas,