MARLIN, Texas — The Marlin City Council was scheduled to take action on an internal investigation into the Marlin Animal Control Center at a meeting on July 9, however, after an hour of discussion behind closed doors, the Council announced that they declined to do so.
The investigation made its way back to the City Council agenda on the six-month anniversary of the discovery of alleged abuse and neglect at the Marlin Animal Control Center in January 2024.
Animal rights advocates and Marlin community members have been protesting and calling for justice since the allegations were revealed, with a Change.com petition reaching nearly 500 signatures within only a few weeks, but even with the Texas Rangers conducting an investigation of their own, some residents believe not enough has been done.
"That those that were involved, whether it was part of clean up, the cover up, the hush hush or whatever, that those people would have been either put on leave, unpaid leave or terminated or whatever they were going to do with the outcome of it, whatever they were able to do within the city," said Valerie Mann, a member of the Justice for the Marlin Dogs group.
The lack of action left many residents and animal advocates disappointed, but not surprised.
"The City struggles with holding itself accountable, so we did not expect anything different with this investigation," said Dorothy Sanders, another member of the group. "We've always put our faith and our focus on the criminal investigation."
The advocacy group were the ones who pushed for the Texas Rangers to start an investigation, which is currently ongoing.
"We believe that the Texas Rangers will find something and their investigation is going to happen and the decision is going to be final," Mann told 6 News. "And then that's what we were wanting. This whole time that we've been fighting, this is what we've been fighting for."
At this time, it is not clear if the City Council will take action on the investigation at a future meeting. Mayor Susan Byrd left the issue at "no action".
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