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Timeline of Significant Events
A brief timeline highlighting significant events leading up to and following the discovery at the Marlin Animal Control Center (MACC).
NICOLE GRAMS
Animal Control Officer on Duty
Nicole Grams is confirmed by the city as the only full-time Animal Control Officer (ACO) on staff for the Marlin Animal Control Center (MACC). She began in this position in mid-to-late May 2023. Nicole Grams is the daughter of Candace Grams, who is rumored to be dating the Marlin Police Chief.
Dead dog and starved dogs found under ACO Nicole Gram's responsibility.
When the horrors behind closed doors were discovered on January 9, 2024 at the Marlin city animal shelter, many questions come to mind. For instance, why didn't Nicole Grams or any other city official that entered the shelter feed and water the dogs? Why do the bowls look dry and dusty? Why were treatment, food, and water withheld from the dogs, especially those malnourished and near death's door? Why didn't the dog that died receive veterinary care? Why were there piles of feces and urine stains covering the concrete floor of the animal shelter? And for how long? Why is there a brick in the dead dog's kennel? Did the dog chew on its edges out of hunger? Why is a dog bed standing vertically? Why are the kennels so small? Even the intake photo obtained through open records request dated 12/14/23 shows a dry, dusty bowl and feces covering the floor. Why were there hundreds of pounds of UNOPENED dog food discovered?
The city of Marlin reports that Nicole Grams completed her ACO training in July 2023. Within less than six weeks of Nicole Grams being on the job, the city animal shelter went from spending over $1500 in veterinary care over a 7 month period to spending $0 in veterinary care over the next 7 months under Ms. Grams' responsibility. The last veterinary care, which included one euthanasia, was paid by the city on June 30, 2023, approximately six weeks after Nicole Grams began her position as full-time ACO. There were zero dollars spent on veterinary care, including humane euthanasia, from July 1, 2023 until the temporary closure of the Marlin city animal shelter on January 10, 2024.
How were the dogs cared for as required by city ordinance and Texas Penal Code 42.092?
Was the ACO starving dogs to death instead of the city paying to humanely euthanize?
NICOLE GRAMS BECAME ACO IN MAY 2023
$1531.99 spent on veterinary bills, including for euthanasia
December 2022 through June 2023
For nearly seven out of eight months that Nicole Grams was ACO, the city spent ZERO dollars on veterinary care
NICOLE GRAMS BECAME ACO IN MAY 2023
$0.00 spent on veterinary bills, including for euthanasia
July 2023 through January 2024
How were the dogs humanely euthanized if the city did not seek any care for seven months?
As the ACO, Nicole Grams failed to maintain accurate animal control logs, including for intake and outtake of animals that entered and/or left the shelter. ACO logs were requested through an open records request for the timeframe covering January 1, 2023 to January 15, 2024.
The city of Marlin only produced two photos of a computer screen displaying data for November and December 2023. When asked about the creation and modification dates of the tracking spreadsheet, the city clarified and validated that they only have two photos of the spreadsheets in their possession. There are no government documents of actual logs or trackers available for the Marlin city animal shelter.
Were government records falsified?
Of note, we know that the November data is inaccurate as it is missing the intake data of the five displaced dogs (Prince, Blue, Akilo, Maverick, and Elvira) from a fire reported on November 3, 2023. 21 displaced, no injuries reported after another early morning fire in Marlin (kxxv.com)
Additionally, we also know that the December 2023 data is missing at least two dog deaths reported to dispatch by ACO Nicole Grams on 12/3/23 and 12/31/23. The dog described on 12/3/23 fits the description of Elvira. The dog described on 12/31/23 fits the description of Maverick. Both were taken in on November 3, 2023 following the above mentioned fire. Neither their intake or outtake were documented.
Police Chief Hommel reports the ACO data in the monthly city council meetings. On January 9, 2024, he reported that 9 dogs were taken in for December 2023, along with 15 puppies. He further reported that 9 dogs went to rescues and 5 dogs were reclaimed. However, Nicole Grams documented on her tracker that 10 dogs were taken in, along with 15 puppies, and 4 dogs were adopted and 5 dogs were reclaimed. Who is correct? And why do the reports not match?
The Police Chief's report begin around the 53 minute mark:
Link to Facebook live video.
Why did ACO Nicole Grams only maintain logs for November and December 2023? Why were the logs inaccurate? Why does the city only have four photos in their possession for documentation for an entire year - two of a computer screen displaying an excel spreadsheet and two intake photos? Were documents falsified after the discovery on January 9, 2024? Is that why the numbers do not match up? We may never know the answers to these questions since the city does not possess the actual spreadsheet that this document was produced on.
Along with the two photos of the excel spreadsheet logs, the city also provided two intake photos of dogs, assumed to be taken in December 2023. Out of an entire year, only two intake photos were maintained? The city reports that they do not have any adoption contracts, rescue paperwork, or owner reclaim/surrender documents. The only documentation that the city has are four photos. The photo on the left is of an unknown dog with unknown disposition. Note the condition of the kennel and the dry bowl. There is feces covering the floor and the drain cover is loose, exposing a hole in the ground. The other photo on the right is of one of the dogs, later named Hooch, that was saved on January 9, 2024 by Jeffrey Rich, the Marlin resident who discovered and reported the horrors at the city animal shelter. Note the healthier condition he was in compared to how he was later found. His ribs and hipbones are not showing. One of his bowls is upside down and the other appears to be dry and empty. Like the other dog's kennel, there is ample feces scattered on the urine stained concrete and his bed is standing vertically. He has a lead rope tied around his neck. The date is assumed to be misdated. Neither dog is identified in the December 2023 data above.
The conditions of the animal shelter were no secret. A councilmember's spouse posted the below video onto social media in September 2023. Notice the inches of feces pushed to the edge of the shelter. Look closely and every now and then you see patches of red, blood-like substance. The city animal shelter is a closed shelter, in which the city covered the outside with tarps, preventing people from seeing the conditions inside. There is no evidence of council discussion on such matters identified in the city council meeting minutes from September through December 2023. Nicole Grams did not receive any disciplinary actions during her time as ACO, as evidenced by open records request.
Link to video: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1914850352298918
To this day, there have been no arrests and no charges against Nicole Grams for her alleged felony acts of intentional and/or reckless animal cruelty.
Texas Penal Code 42.092 states:
A person commits an offense if the person intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly:
(1)
tortures an animal or in a cruel manner kills or causes serious bodily injury to an animal;
(2)
without the owner’s effective consent, kills, administers poison to, or causes serious bodily injury to an animal;
(3)
fails unreasonably to provide necessary food, water, care, or shelter for an animal in the person’s custody;
(4)
abandons unreasonably an animal in the person’s custody;
(5)
transports or confines an animal in a cruel manner;
(6)
without the owner’s effective consent, causes bodily injury to an animal;
(7)
causes one animal to fight with another animal, if either animal is not a dog;
(8)
uses a live animal as a lure in dog race training or in dog coursing on a racetrack; or
(9)
seriously overworks an animal.
(c)
An offense under Subsection (b)(3), (4), (5), (6), or (9) is a Class A misdemeanor, except that the offense is a state jail felony if the person has previously been convicted two times under this section, two times under Section 42.09 (Cruelty to Livestock Animals), or one time under this section and one time under Section 42.09 (Cruelty to Livestock Animals).
(c-1)
An offense under Subsection (b)(1) or (2) is a felony of the third degree, except that the offense is a felony of the second degree if the person has previously been convicted under Subsection (b)(1), (2), (7), or (8) or under Section 42.09 (Cruelty to Livestock Animals).
(c-2)
An offense under Subsection (b)(7) or (8) is a state jail felony, except that the offense is a felony of the third degree if the person has previously been convicted under this section or under Section 42.09 (Cruelty to Livestock Animals).
If you have additional information or tips, please email justiceforthemarlindogs@gmail.com.
DO YOU HAVE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION?
NO INVESTIGATION, NO ARRESTS,
NO CHARGES
Photo of November 2023 data; City states these two photos are the only documentation the city has in its possession for any ACO records.
Photo of December 2023 data; City states these two photos are the only documentation the city has in its possession for any ACO records.
JAMES HOMMEL
Marlin City Police Chief
The Marlin Police Chief James Hommel oversees the city animal shelter. He selects and supervises the Animal Control Officer on staff. When Mr. Rich exercised his first amendment rights and posted his videos and photos of the animal cruelty onto social media, Chief Hommel asked him to remove his social media post. The Chief of Police, a law enforcement leader, a 30 year veteran police officer, asked a private citizen to remove his freedom of speech. Was he was trying to cover up the animal cruelty discovered at the city animal shelter under his responsibility? Thankfully, Mr. Rich did not agree to Chief Hommel's request.
Chief Hommel's response to this reported crime was equally disturbing. According to Mr. Rich, “Before the sheriffs and stuff got involved. He (Marlin Police Chief Hommel) was already in there, already disposing of the dead body and then dumped it somewhere. Then was picking up the dog poop and, you know, stuff like that.” Marlin Police Chief, James Hommel, admitted in a news interview that upon learning of the videos, he asked Mr. Rich to remove the social media post, in which Mr. Rich refused. Chief Hommel also admitted in the public interview that he had already started the process of cleaning the kennels upon learning of Mr. Rich’s social media post, instead of preserving the shelter as an active crime scene for investigation.
Was Chief Hommel trying to cover up the animal cruelty crimes at the MACC?
Lopez insisted, “Instead of notifying the proper authorities, they (staff at facility) took it upon themselves to start cleaning, disposing and I think that should have been held until a further investigation was done.”
‘Numerous dogs found dead, in bad condition’ at Marlin facility, Falls County sheriff says (msn.com)
Texas Penal Code § 37.09, “Tampering with or Fabricating Physical Evidence” states "a person commits an offense if, knowing that an investigation or official proceeding is pending or in progress, he: alters, destroys, or conceals” records, documents, or things with the intention to impair “verity, legibility, or availability as evidence” in an official proceeding or investigation, or “makes, presents, or uses” records, documents, or things with the “knowledge of its falsity” and with the intention “to affect the course or outcome” of an official proceeding or investigation.
As head of the department, Chief Hommel is responsible for the oversight and operations of the Marlin Animal Control Center (MACC). Since June 2023, he reported monthly intake and outtake data in the city council meetings, despite lacking accurate documentation by ACO Nicole Grams to validate such data reporting. This type of data is not reported in monthly meetings before Nicole Grams became ACO. The numbers do not add up. There should have been 34 dogs, 6 cats, and 1 pig discovered at the city animal shelter on January 9, 2024, not the 10 dogs actually found. There are only 24 kennels. How are 34 dogs expected to be sheltered in 24 kennels that are only 5ft x 5ft wide? Where are the other 24 dogs, 6 cats, and 1 pig? Why did no one question the numbers and red flags? Why have no local rescues admitted that they have taken in any dogs or cats as reported by Chief Hommel and Nicole Grams?
OVERSIGHT AND DATA REPORTING CONCERNS
As head of the department, Chief Hommel is responsible for the supervisory oversight of the animal control operations, validating accurate data capture for leadership reporting. As mentioned above, ACO Nicole Grams failed to capture required animal control data, including on all intakes, adoptions, rescues, owner surrenders, owner reclaims, deaths, and dispositions of each dog or animal that entered the city animal shelter. Chief Hommel failed to hold ACO Nicole Grams accountable and failed to validate data capture for accurate reporting. The city confirmed this fact through open record request. Does the city council have responsibility in ensuring department heads are accountable for oversight and valid data reporting? For a year's worth of animal control data, the city only has four photos in its possession: two photos of a computer screen displaying data for November and December 2023 and two intake photos dated in December 2023. The data in both November and December 2023 spreadsheets is missing information and is not accurate as shown in the above section. The city confirmed through open records request that these four photos are the only documents pertaining to ACO logs that the city has in its possession.
Accordinging to KCEN-TV, on January 9, 2024, "Hommel said the Animal Control Center will not be open again until he gets some policies in place fixing issues like drainage". Marlin Police Chief gives updates on Animal Control Center | kcentv.com
Chief Hommel claims that drainage is an issue, however, nowhere in the city council meeting minutes is drainage ever discussed as an issue. As head of the department, it is Chief Hommel's responsibility to advocate for the needs of his department to ensure proper care is provided to the animals in the city's care. Additionally, the budget for the MACC building maintenance and repairs returned a nearly $15k surplus at the end of FY2023 and cut the budget by nearly $19k for FY2024. The drainage issues were never fixed, though that would not resolve the issues of necessary food, water, and treatment being withheld from the dogs, nor the cleaning of old feces and urine in the city animal shelter.
On January 9, 2024, Chief Hommel told the Waco Tribune Herald that the dogs came into the shelter this way. If you read about the dogs under the 'Meet The Dogs' tab under 'More' in the top banner, you will see that a majority of the dogs did not come into the shelter in the state they were discovered in. If they did, the owners of the seven dogs that we know of that were owner surrenders and temporary holds should have been charged with animal cruelty. However, the ACO or Police department did not charge anyone upon intake of the dogs, nor did they accurately document to support their claims. Additionally, Chief Hommel states that they do the best they can for the dogs. The above evidence related to the MACC budget and withholding of veterinary care further disputes his claims.
Post at Marlin animal shelter draws concerns over conditions (wacotrib.com)
To this day, Police Chief Hommel continues serving in his leadership role and has not been placed on administrative leave. As of March 1, 2024, the city council has not conducted any internal investigation or questioning to look into the matters further.
The animal control records are not the only city documents allegedly reflecting inaccurate data. The city budget line for animal control donations shows zero dollars for FY2023. However, the local Wal-mart reports that they consistently donated dog food to the city animal shelter on a weekly basis, and most times multiple times during the week. Several hundreds of pounds of unopened dog food were witnessed to be inside the shelter's garage when the rescues showed up on January 9th and 10th to save the surviving dogs. Why were the dogs not fed or watered? The city had the resources to properly care for them.
The city had approximately $350 surplus in MACC dog food, approximately $1050 surplus in MACC supplies, and approximately $700 surplus in veterinary care in the anticipated budget in FY 2023. The city had resources to properly care for the dogs taken into their city shelter, however they chose to neglect them instead, subjecting them to malicious animal cruelty of starvation, dehydration, and lack of care.
In the below video reported by local news, at about the 1:38 minute mark, you can view a person in the background pressure washing the shelter. This was filmed on January 9th, within a few hours of Mr. Rich's discovery.
Marlin Animal Control Center under investigation - YouTube
On January 9th, within a few hours of Mr. Rich's discovery, Falls County Sheriff Joe Lopez confirmed with the local news media that Police Chief Hommel and his staff cleaned up the scene. “There are questions that need to be answered,”
Councilmember Cecil Sparks
Cecil Sparks is the city councilmember for Precinct 5 in Marlin, Texas. He also served as a prior ACO for the city, possessing animal welfare experience and knowledge. For unknown reasons, Councilmember Sparks was at the MACC on the evening of January 8th and the morning of January 9th along with Police Chief Hommel, which is the night before Mr. Rich's discovery and social media post. Why was a councilmember at the city animal shelter with the Police Chief after hours? Why did he not feed and water the dogs when he saw their conditions? Why did he not arrange for care of the malnourished dogs and dead dog that he claims was alive when he visited? Surely with his background and experience he knows how to recognize a dog
needing immediate care, food and water. Why did he not report the deplorable conditions when he saw the kennels filled with old feces and urine stains?
According to an interview with the Waco Tribune Herald, Councilmember Sparks "said the situation is not as bad as it looks in the post, and refuted the assertion made in the post that the conditions at the shelter are bad. He said the person who made the post 'jumped to conclusions.' Sparks said while the animal control shelter only has one employee, the city has enough food and supplies to take care of the dogs. He said he was at the shelter Monday night and Tuesday morning, and said the dog that died was alive and appeared fine He also said the kennels were last cleaned Monday, and the feces seen in the post had accumulated Tuesday. Sparks said the kennels were cleaned again Tuesday afternoon."
Post at Marlin animal shelter draws concerns over conditions (wacotrib.com)
