{"id":478543,"date":"2026-10-27T21:26:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-27T21:26:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/478543\/"},"modified":"2026-10-27T21:26:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T21:26:14","slug":"austin-must-release-major-the-dog-after-euthanasia-threat-judge-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/478543\/","title":{"rendered":"Austin must release Major the dog after euthanasia threat, judge rules"},"content":{"rendered":"

A federal judge late Monday<\/a> barred Austin from euthanizing Major the dog<\/a> and ordered the city to release the Belgian Malinois to a rescue organization within 30 days, ending the dog’s 575-day stay at the city animal shelter as his owner fought the euthanasia order in court.<\/p>\n

Major has been in the city\u2019s custody since March 2025, when he attacked a woman and severely injured her arm. Major\u2019s owner, Shane Lilly, has said he was walking the dog off-leash in Montopolis when a vehicle struck it, injuring its leg. Lilly said he left Major outside a nearby home while he ran to retrieve his phone from his tent. While Lilly was gone, Major attacked a woman who tried to help the injured dog.<\/p>\n

Lilly challenged a court\u2019s euthanasia order in several courts, including the Texas Supreme Court. In September, he filed a federal lawsuit alleging the city violated the Americans with Disabilities Act.<\/p>\n

U.S. District Judge David A. Ezra\u2019s order permanently bars the city from euthanizing Major. It also requires that the dog be sedated and muzzled, then transferred from the shelter to a designated rescue organization within 30 days.<\/p>\n

The rescue organization will transport Major to a secure enclosure outside Austin and Travis County, where he must be allowed to decompress for at least 30 days. Lilly must notify the local animal control authority in the area where Major is placed, according to the order.<\/p>\n

Lilly\u2019s lawyers could not immediately be reached for comment. In a statement, the city said Major\u2019s stay in the shelter \u201cwas extended beyond what we all would have wanted\u201d and that it does not intend to prolong it. It was not immediately clear when Major would be released or which organization would take him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe City\u2019s top priority has been and continues to be the public\u2019s safety, while providing compassionate and humane care for Major,\u201d the statement said. \u201cThe City remains concerned that Major continues to pose a serious safety risk to the public and to Mr. Lilly. However, we will abide by the court’s order and hope that Major gets the care and attention he needs.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

During the decompression period, only Lilly and a designated veterinarian, Kenneth Martin, may have access to Major. Martin, who provides behavioral consultations for animals through Veterinary Behavior Consultants LLC, will determine whether Major needs more than 30 days to decompress and be retrained.<\/p>\n

If Martin determines Major can be safely rehomed with Lilly, he must certify that determination in a record filed with the court. The order states that Major may never be released to the general public.<\/p>\n

Martin was not immediately available for comment Tuesday afternoon.<\/p>\n

The order also requires Lilly to obtain at least $100,000 in liability insurance for Major to cover damages from any future attack.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A federal judge late Monday barred Austin from euthanizing Major the dog and ordered the city to release…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":478544,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-478543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=478543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478543\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/478544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=478543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=478543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=478543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}