Texas dog bites woman. Then Major the Belgian Malinois gets detained for 500 days. Should he be euthanized?

An Austin dog stuck in shelter isolation for more than a year galvanized the internet. But shelter documents paint a more complicated picture of both the animal and its owner.

Initially reported by the Austin American-Statesman on Sep. 2, the story details how Shane Lilly, the owner of a Belgian Malinois named Major, spent more than 500 days fighting against the dog's euthanasia in court. During that time, Major has been kept in a restricted area of the shelter.

Lilly told the Statesman that he suffered from a traumatic brain injury in 2012. That experience and the symptoms from the injury made him want a protection dog. This is why he purchased Major as a puppy in 2023.

As noted by the Statesman, Major was hit by a truck in a hit-and-run last March. Lilly, who is unhoused, left the injured dog outside a house on Felix Ave. in East Austin. He did so for an extended period of time. 

Witnesses told Subplot that the dog eventually moved up the street to the porch of a nearby business. That's where the then 26-year-old victim, Julissa Alvarez, found the dog and tried to help.

Major bit her.

A city bite report notes that Alvarez received three staples and was diagnosed with a sprained wrist. The documents and court records show it wasn't the first time Major bit a person. Court records show Major continues to exhibit abnormally aggressive behavior.

Don't tell any of this to social media

The Statesman reports most of the facts, albeit clearly framing Lilly and Major in a sympathetic light, in its stories. However, that hasn't stopped social media from perpetuating Lilly's misleading claims that the “Austin Animal Control authority recommended Major to be euthanized” and that “a dog's life should not be decided based on personal grudges and unverified accusations.”

Lilly's characterization of the situation has largely dominated the public discussion. In addition to promoting his point of view in social media videos, community members have demonstrated outside the shelter. They have also fundraised to cover his ongoing legal expenses.

The case continues to go through the legal system, with a federal judge ruling last week that the euthanasia could be delayed for another 10 days. This is so the court can consider whether to order an independent evaluation of Major. In this case, Lilly and his lawyers are arguing that this is a violation of his rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

‘They do not allow the owner back on property'

The day of the incident, Austin Protection officers eventually secured Major with a catch pole and squeeze gate. And it sounds like a fairly chaotic scene. “Biting at pole, alligator roll, and screaming,” the report states. “Bite history.”

Lilly was not present at that point. However, police spoke on the phone to a roommate who confirmed Lilly and Major were associated with the residence. Subplot later learned that Lilly had been evicted for multiple reasons. He was known to visit to access property he was still storing there.

The center was able to scan Major's microchip. Instead of going back to Lilly, however, it pulled up the information of a woman named Meagan Evans. She is a Gatesville-based dog breeder and runs a training facility called LoneStar Malinois. 

According to the note, Evans confirmed that Major originated from the facility. She identified Lilly as the owner, and said the microchip went back to her and the breeding facility. This is because Lilly had not updated the microchip since he purchased the dog. 

“Meagan stated that the owner is mentally unstable and she has received multiple calls from people that have reported that the dog was loose,” the note reads. “She stated that they do not allow the owner back on property.”

Shelter staff updated the microchip with Lilly's information. City ordinance requires pet owners to update microchips with new contact information within 30 days of the change. 

Subplot contacted Evans and LoneStar Malinois for this story and she declined to comment.

A 10-day rabies quarantine turns into a 500-day nightmare

At this point, two processes went into motion. Texas Health and Safety Code requires any animal that bites someone in Texas go into a 10-day rabies quarantine for observation either in a facility, a veterinary clinic, or, in some cases, home confinement. In this case, Lilly did not have a permanent address and the quarantine happened at the Austin Animal Center.

And then there are the consequences associated with the severity of the bite. The Statesman reported that Alvarez did not want to pursue a case against Major, but at that point it was out of her hands. 

State law defines “serious bodily injury” as one characterized by severe bite wounds that require medical treatment and hospitalization. Importantly, the bite victim doesn't need to actually seek treatment or go to the hospital. The wounds just have to be so severe that a “reasonably prudent” person would. In this case, Alvarez had to get help from EMS and go to the hospital for her staples.

There are some exceptions, but Major is not one of them

The courts can seize and eventually euthanize a dog that has killed or caused serious bodily injury to a person. Law prevents this from happening in cases where the dog was being used to protect property; the dog was secured and a person was trespassing; or the dog was defending a person from assault or property from damage.

Due to the nature of Alvarez's injuries, Austin/Travis County Animal Protection requested a seizure warrant for Major in early April and it was granted. Lilly appealed and Major would have to stay at the shelter while the appeals process took place. We know now that process took more than 500 days.

That is around the same time that shelter documents show Lilly's behavior toward staff turned increasingly hostile. He went to the shelter on April 11, 2025, to check on Major. There, he was informed by staff that he wasn't able to see the dog due to the pending investigation.

“Lilly became upset and started cursing, stating he was going to sue the hell out of the shelter,” the note states. 

‘Emailed leadership regarding the owner's behavior'

Lilly visited the shelter over the next few days to drop off raw dog food and treats. He wanted the staff to feed them to Major. On April 17, 2025, a note states that Lilly came in and was reportedly upset after learning a dog bed he'd left for Major had been removed due to concerns about it getting lost during kennel cleanings.

On April 21, a staff member wrote, “This case is now moving to an appeal. Emailed leadership regarding the owner's behavior.”

Three days later, the same staff member wrote, “I spoke with the owner yesterday and updated him that his appeal has been confirmed with the courts and I will reach out to him when the hearing is scheduled.”

The note continues, “He got upset and stated, ‘I will pursue criminal charges against you.' [Another employee] came into the office around 5:10 p.m. yesterday to warn me to not go outside since the owner was upset. I told him that he is not allowed to visit with his dog until the next hearing is completed. All confirmed over text and an email was sent to leadership regarding how to handle the owner moving forward.”

They try to stop Lilly from bringing food

On April 30, 2025, a staff member wrote a note alerting their colleagues to stop accepting food. This included raw meat, fast food, and anything else requiring refrigeration.

“Since we do not have enough people and resources to continue to take these items,” the staffer wrote. “I understand that he may get disgruntled, but you can tell him that he can bring in any dry dog food and toys at any time.”

The note concludes, “If he continues to have issues regarding this and gets aggressive in any way, call [the Austin Police Department] and notify me and APO supervisor.”

The same day, Lilly arrived with more food and another staffer went to meet him.

“I advised him that he didn't need to bring any more food for a few days as we had several tubes,” the employee wrote. “He immediately became confrontational and raising his voice at home. I advised him that I needed him to calm down.”

‘This will continue to escalate'

Lilly did calm down, but that wasn't the end of the negative interactions. According to a May 21, 2025 note, Lilly had dropped off a bag of raw food in front of the shelter the previous day.

“I let customer service know again that he is not allowed to drop off any raw food, but gave [Lilly] a small list of long-lasting treats that he is able to bring, and his response was ‘stay the [expletive] away from my dog' and ‘you are an unbelievable c*nt,'” the staffer wrote.

The staffer continued, “This will continue to escalate, due to the owner not listening to AAC staff regarding food that he brings in.”

Not only did Lilly continue to heighten tensions with staff, but he was also working to escalate through the courts. This Texas Third Court of Appeals memo from February details how the municipal court ordered Major euthanized for causing serious bodily injury to Alvarez on July 14, 2025. Lilly appealed the court's order to the trial court level, which also ordered that Major be euthanized. That's when Lilly appealed to the Texas Third Court of Appeals. 

And, after laying out the evidence, the appeals court upheld the order. The memo notes that the injury to Major happened as Lilly was taking him to get a muzzle. And why did he need the muzzle? Because Lilly had been bringing Major on Capital Metro buses and the dog had snapped and growled at people.

Wait, what happened with the training?

Even more disturbingly, the ruling notes that Lilly had previously paid $12,000 to LoneStar Malinois to train Major in protection, but that he picked up Major early from the training so he did not complete it.

The ruling explicitly states that Lilly did not explain why Major did not finish his training. However, a source close to the situation told Subplot that it was due to Lilly's emotional attachment to Major. Additionally, his unwillingness to be away from the dog for any extended period of time. 

Can Major's owner be trusted with a protection animal?

According to LoneStar's website, the protection training program is supposed to last a full six months.

“Protective instincts can be so strong that it causes unwanted aggression toward other people your dog is not familiar with,” the website states. “For this reason, the guarding instinct should be refined with the foundations of obedience training and socialization throughout the dog's life.”

The training will first teach the dog the basics of off-leash obedience, and then how to respond to the “bark” and “leave it” commands. After that, the dog will be taught how to develop mouth grips on a bite pillow and then on to targeting a sleeve.

“The most important thing is that your dog has a good on and off switch when doing any type of agitation or bite work,” the site states.

Why didn't the training work on Major?

A dog training source told Subplot that the beginning of these kinds of training programs overwhelmingly focus on activating the dog's bite instinct, which is the first step in forming that “on and off switch” the website talks about. Without the next steps in training, Major essentially had no “off switch.”

And that lines up with how Major was behaving in the community. Animal Protection officer Elayna Grove testified that Lilly admitted to her that Major had bitten at least five or six other people. Subplot learned that Major was previously banned from a neighborhood convenience store due to a biting incident inside.

The Statesman reported that Lilly “mistakenly” believed Major could qualify as a service animal. This is not the case because of his incomplete training in protection. Still, Lilly registered Major as a service animal, a notoriously unregulated commercial industry. 

It therefore seems like Major committing serious bodily injury to someone was only a matter of time. It's unclear what, if any, assurances Lilly can realistically make that would allow him continued access to the dog while preserving public safety. The City of Austin just updated its procedures for handling dangerous dogs in 2024 after a study revealed it released too many back into the community.

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