08/05/2022
One year ago today, a family dog named Saint was sitting calmly in the back of a police car when Terrell Walton, an employee of the largest animal shelter in Philadelphia, ACCT Philly, would end up bludgeoning Saint with a pole, destroying this poor pup’s jaw.
Saint’s family tried to pick Saint up and take him home that day but was assured by ACCT it was in his best interest to remain at ACCT and that the family could get him the next day. ACCT told the family it was the police that broke Saint’s jaw, not them.
Instead of taking care of Saint that evening, ACCT killed Saint and dumped his body before his family could reclaim him. When the family would try to pick Saint up on August 5th, they would learn Saint was already dead.
It has been a year since Saint’s tragic death, and ACCT still refuses to provide answers. But the tide is starting to turn.
Recently, the ACCT employee that brutally beat Saint has been arrested and charged for animal cruelty. While his criminal case progresses, we have an active civil lawsuit against ACCT, where we will hold ACCT accountable for killing Saint and for lying to Saint’s family.
I wished ACCT would be fully transparent with what they did and apologize to my client. Instead, the largest shelter in Philadelphia is trying to have the court rule that as a matter of law, Saint’s life meant nothing.
While I have a very busy catastrophic injury practice helping humans, I’m honored to take on this case pro bono and hope that some good can come out of this tragedy.
I’m very sorry that you lost your dog, Tiffany Lavelle.
We will get justice for Saint.
Terrell Walton, 30, was charged in the case of Saint, a pit bull whose death caused an uproar among activists last year. Saint was euthanized despite his owner's efforts to reclaim him.
