Yesterday I posted a statement from @WillieNelson and #FreeMajor. I knew more—but sometimes helping a dog means NOT posting what you know. I met attorney @ChristinaMaccio when she took on the Snuggles case. I had been helping Snuggles' mom, researching the law, animal-welfare issues, and building an organized Google Drive of materials for her future legal counsel to use as they saw fit. So when Major came onto my radar, sadly I knew enough to recognize what I was looking at. First let me introduce you to Major Lilly — and explain why his case goes far beyond one dog. Note: It is considerably shortened. You can read more on Instagram on @TheTRAPRS page. 🐶 Major is a Belgian Malinois who has been held by the City of Austin since March 31, 2025—which was DAY ONE. ➡️ As of today, he has been held 528 DAYS. Sound familiar? Major's owner, Shane Lilly, has a disability and Major assists him with disability-related tasks that if you know how hard this is to accomplish, is irreplaceable. On May 31, 2025, Major was hit by a vehicle and was injured. Shane was on foot and didn't have a way to get to an emergency vet and didn't have his phone. He went to go get help. Major was limping and yelping when two women attempted to corral him out of traffic. One of them was bitten and had to go to the hospital to be treated. She was treated and released the same day. Austin Animal Control's (AAC) investigator documented it as a “provoked bite” — meaning Major was reacting to the circumstances, not attacking without cause. According to records, AAC initially told him he could take Major home. Shane asked them to keep Major because Major was injured and Shane did not have the resources at that moment to get him the veterinary treatment he needed. ➡️ On April 9, Austin obtained a seizure warrant under Texas Health & Safety Code Chapter 822. The ACO affidavit stated something Shane emphatically disputes: it said Shane told her this was the sixth person Major had bitten, and we have supported that by finding no record showing Major had ever bitten or seriously injured anyone before March 31. The woman who was bitten didn’t even testify because she didn’t want Major to be hurt. ➡️ Despite that, on April 15, Austin Municipal Court ordered Major destroyed. Shane appealed. A Travis County court held a new hearing in July 2025 and again ordered Major destroyed. Shane kept appealing. The Third Court of Appeals affirmed the order in February. The Texas Supreme Court declined review, and the state appellate process reached its end. Shane had no other way to save Major. Last Friday, AAC emailed Shane and gave him an appointment for 9:00am September 11 — for his final visit with Major. (The irony of the date Austin chose does not escape me. ⁉️) ➡️ This is where my involvement in Major's case began. Christina brought the litigation expertise; I brought what I had learned from years in animal welfare and from living inside these cases, and my quest to find the common thread in them around the country. Christina and I spent hours collaborating on what we found on the case and I knew she had the brilliance and expertise he needed and she wanted to see if she could possibly help. We needed to speak with Shane, but neither of us knew him. So I went looking. I worked backward through social media—posts, comments, names, connections—trying to figure out who actually knew something and who might lead me to Shane. After days of digging, I got a lead and was connected with Caitlin at @TheTRAPRS, who had been helping Shane for a couple weeks. Caitlin’s side had the connection—and our side had the brilliant lawyer that was willing to step up. We all got on the phone, Christina took the case, and she got busy. ⚖️ Yesterday, Christina filed a federal civil-rights action on behalf of Shane Lilly in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, along with an emergency request to stop the City of Austin from euthanizing Major, called a TRO. ➡️ Today, U.S. District Judge David Alan Ezra granted the Temporary Restraining Order (TRO). 🙌 Major is safe. The order itself is sealed for now, so I cannot discuss its contents. If anyone tells you they know, his counsel would like to have a word. This is not the end of Major’s case. The TRO will keep Major alive long enough for the federal issues to be heard. So more updates are coming. Christina worked under EXTREME time pressure. I am awe struck at the precision in which she filed, and how brilliantly and accurately she answered hard questions the judge gave her. She did all this in THREE DAYS. Judge Ezra and his staff were also handed a genuinely difficult federal case on an emergency timetable and gave it immediate consideration and a quick decision. That needs to be said. And so does her name—@ChristinaMaccio. 🙌 There is a much bigger story here about Major, Atlas, Snuggles, the lawyers and experts these cases desperately need, and why we cannot continue fighting these cases one dog at a time. 🐶❤️ But today belongs to Major and Shane, thanks to @ChristinaMaccio, the attorney who made sure for Major, there would still BE a tomorrow. #FreeMajor *Video courtesy of Caitlin/@TheTRAPRS.