Green Goes Big

Earth Day Dallas appoints new leader to prove everything is bigger in Texas

Earth Day Dallas recently announced some ambitious plans to expand its impact statewide. The environmental event now has a new name — Earth Day Texas — and a new executive director, Michael Cain.

Earth Day Texas hopes to attract 60,000 participants to Fair Park for the event, which takes place April 26-27, 2014. Organizers have already begun to solicit business and community leaders and vendors from Houston, San Antonio and Austin for what they hope will become one of the biggest green festivals in the nation.

Cain is a Dallas native with an impressive list of accomplishments in the film and nonprofit space. He was the founding artistic director, CEO and chairman of the board of the Dallas International Film Festival. He also founded the Deep Ellum Film Festival and Arts Fighting Cancer. Most recently, he was executive producer for Jobs and remains president of his M3 Films company.

Cain, who admits that film turned him onto environmentalism in the ’70s, sees his appointment as an opportunity to take his passions to the next level.

“I got into film to change the world,” he told Green Source DFW. “Earth Day Texas is the perfect medium to affect the way people live, the way they think and work.”

In addition to new leadership, for the first time the green festival will have a central theme: water. That decision came on the heels of the November 5 election in which Texans overwhelmingly approved Proposition 6, which will take $2 billion from the state’s rainy day fund to help fund water projects throughout Texas.

“By passing Proposition 6, voters across the state have taken a stand and declared that our future water supply is an incredibly important issue to them,” said Earth Day Dallas founder Trammell S. Crow in a statement.

“We believe now is the perfect time to do more, to reach more people, with our message that everyone from big business to everyday family can lead the environmentally conscious lifestyle — especially when it comes to water conservation.”

“Everyone understands this is an issue in Texas,” added Cain. “The support of Proposition 6 is proof that people are aware that something has got to change.”

Programming and activities for Earth Day Texas will revolve around this critical theme. Planning is currently underway for the event, which will showcase environmental initiatives of business, nonprofits, schools and colleges, and governmental agencies, as well as provide family-friendly activities and hands-on workshops.

Earth Day Dallas is now Earth Day Texas.

Earth Day Dallas Facebook

Earth Day Dallas is now Earth Day Texas.

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Animal News

Hunt County man arrested for animal cruelty to puppy from Dallas

SPCA

Jacob Paul Nichols arrested for animal cruelty in Hunt County, Texas.

On Tuesday, June 17, a resident of Greenville, Texas was arrested for animal cruelty after allegedly letting a puppy starve to death.

According to a release, Jacob Paul Nichols was arrested and charged with Texas Penal Code 42.092, Cruelty to Non-Livestock Animals (b)(1) after allegedly torturing his puppy over a span of several months, causing unjustifiable pain and suffering which ultimately resulted in her death — a felony of the third degree.

Nichols was located and arrested in Johnson County where he was booked into Johnson County Jail and held on a $200,000 bond.

On June 6, SPCA of Texas’ Animal Cruelty Investigations (ACI) Unit Chief Investigator was contacted by the ever-diligent Hunt County Sheriff’s Office in reference to a deceased puppy that was discovered inside a dumpster at a Greenville apartment complex.

The small tan puppy was found lying on her side in a medium-sized crate. She was emaciated and had sharp, overgrown nails.

An SPCA of Texas Investigator took the puppy to the SPCA's Russell E. Dealey Animal Rescue Center for a forensic necropsy. The exam showed the puppy was 5.5 months old and weighed only 7.6 pounds when she died. She perished due to long-term starvation and dehydration, and had suffered for a prolonged period of time.

The puppy had a microchip, which revealed that she had been adopted by a Dallas resident from a North Texas animal shelter in January 2025. The puppy, named Sandy, was rehomed to Nichols on February 13 through a rehoming website that allows potential adopters to be screened prior to rehoming. (The release does not identify the adopter or explain why the adopter was dumping the puppy after only a month of ownership.)

Nichols signed a contract stating that he agreed to “care for the pet in a humane and responsible manner and to provide him/her with clean and adequate shelter, food, water and veterinary care.”

The SPCA of Texas ACI Unit confirmed with Nichols that the dog had been in his care. Interviews with Nichols and other witnesses revealed evidence that the dog had been neglected over a span of months and left to die in the crate without food or water.

“No animal deserves to suffer in silence the way this puppy did. The evidence indicates that she was trapped, neglected and ultimately starved to death over a span of months,” said SPCA of Texas’ ACI Unit Chief Investigator Courtney Burns, CAWA. “The level of cruelty in this case is staggering, and the SPCA of Texas and Hunt County Sheriff’s Office are committed to ensuring justice is served.”

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