Makalyn Cardwell

Name:
Cardwell, Makalyn Nicole

Date of Booking:
03/05/2026

Reason(s) For Booking:
CRUELTY TO ANIMALS MISDEMEANOR

Officer’s Narrative:
[Please note: The following is a direct transcription from the official initial incident report. The Georgia Gazette does not fix any spelling or grammatical errors that may exist. Any changes or redactions made by our staff are placed inside brackets. Some errors may exist. All subjects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The topics discussed may be sensitive to some readers. Discretion is advised.]

[NARRATIVE #1 on March 05, 2026]

On Thursday, March 5, 2026, at 1100hrs, I, Deputy Rita Palmer and Deputy Chirs Niehus were located at [1000 BLOCK] Amli Way apartment [REDACTED], writ 962720 for an eviction. Upon entering the apartment there was a strong odor of animal feces and urine.

I spoke with offender Makalyn Nicole Cardwel. M. Cardwell needed to put pants on so we could continue with the eviction. When I entered the apartment. I observed a male German Shepard mixed dog in a kennel sitting in the living room of the apartment. The dog had been left inside the kennel sitting in a large amount of his own feces and urine.

I did observe the dog’s right paw had been injured and appeared to have healed incorrectly. M. Cardwell advised the dog obtained an injury in January 2026, but she had been unable to seek a vet to treat the dog due to finances. I did not observe any dog food inside the apartment. M. Cardwell advised she did not have any dog food at the time, but she fed him chicken and rice this morning.

Animal Control Officer Jacob Patterson AC3 and Animal Control Officer Jordan Rohde AC6 arrived on scene. Officer J. Patterson removed the dog from the kennel. While taking him outside I was able to observe the dog more closely. I was able to see the dog had been malnourished resulting in severe visible protrusion of his hip bones and ribs. I observed the dog’s fur was wet, matted and covered in fresh and old fecal matter. The dog had patches of hair missing from his lower extremities due to long term exposure to the urine and fecal matter.

Lt. Billman and Sgt. Porter were notified of this incident.

I informed M. Cardwell she was under arrest. I placed handcuffs on her to the rear, checked them for fit and double locked them. I then searched for her to make sure she did not have any weapons or contraband on her at this time. I placed her in the back passenger seat of my patrol unit with a seatbelt on and transported her to the Richmond County Jail for processing.

I arrived at the jail, I completed the arrest and booking and the property receipt. I checked the back seat of my patrol unit to ensure M. Cardwell did not leave anything.

Warrant CE-0175028 was obtained for O.C.G.A 16-12-4 M Cruelty to Animals

[End of Narrative]

[NARRATIVE #2 on March 17, 2026]

I spoke with Animal Control supervisor [REDACTED] after this dog was taken to the vet. According to vet records the dog is approximately 1.5 years old, weighs 35lbs. The dog is extremely malnourished, and bones are deforming due to being left in the kennel for extreme lengths of time. The dog has whipworms and hookworms.

All this information is provided in the attached document report from the vet. The dog is very underweight, intact. The dog would shy away tremendously with anything held over his head and fast movements or when confined in a tight small space.

[End of Narrative]