A federal judge has given a Texas dog owner a narrow window to stop his service dog from being put down.
Senior US District Judge David Alan Ezra delayed Major’s scheduled euthanasia on Sept. 29 and announced he would issue a ruling within 10 days, according to court records. The 65-pound Belgian Malinois has been locked inside an Austin animal shelter for more than 545 days while his owner, Shane Lilly, wages a multi-front legal fight to bring him home.
Major has been held at the shelter since March 31, kept in isolation and barred from interacting with people or other dogs throughout his confinement. The separation has devastated Lilly, who has framed the case as a fight for disability rights as much as for his pet’s life.
“My beloved service animal, Major, faces an unjust death sentence that no animal deserves,” Lilly wrote in a Change.org petition demanding the dog be spared.
The case traces back to an afternoon in March 2025 when Major was struck by a white pickup truck while walking with Lilly on Felix Avenue in Austin. In the chaotic aftermath, Lilly ran home to retrieve his cellphone. During his absence, a bystander tried to lift the injured dog into a car, and Major bit her.
The city transported the wounded dog to the shelter for rabies observation and later secured a municipal court order authorizing his destruction, arguing that Major presented a public danger. Lilly appealed the order but lost in February 2026, then took his case to the Texas Supreme Court in August. The state’s highest court declined to revive the matter, leaving the euthanasia order intact.
With state avenues exhausted, Lilly filed a federal lawsuit accusing the city of failing to properly weigh Major’s status as a service animal or consider alternatives that could preserve his life. He is seeking an independent, third-party behavioral assessment to determine whether Major can be rehabilitated and safely released, and he has named the city plus three animal shelter employees in a federal disability lawsuit.
“Major has been a loyal service animal and a gentle soul who acted instinctively when he was in pain,” Lilly said. “He does not deserve to be separated from his family and condemned without just cause.”
The case has galvanized animal advocates across Texas and beyond. Supporters have staged protests outside the shelter and at the courthouse, hoisting signs reading “Free Major!” The online petition had attracted 54,983 signatures as of Friday, reflecting broad public sympathy for the confined dog.
“I urge you to stand with us and demand justice for Major,” Lilly wrote in his petition appeal. “Please sign and share this petition to help protect our pets and service animals from unwarranted harm.”
Judge Ezra’s 10-day review period represents Lilly’s most promising remaining chance to halt the euthanasia order. The federal judge’s intervention came after state courts declined to block the city’s destruction order, making the federal disability claim the final barrier between Major and the scheduled procedure.