The other shoe drops on ACCT Philly

The other shoe has dropped on ACCT Philly, the city’s animal control agency, with a suit filed by Tiffany LaVelle, described as the heart-broken owner of Saint, a 5-year-old dog that was wrongfully euthanized by the city-funded agency.

I first reported the case back in Novemberand in Philadelphia Weekly. 

In brief, LaVelle’s pit bull mix was brought by police into ACCT intact. He soon suffered a broken jaw and within hours was euthanized without the permission of the owner, who was known to ACCT.

The link will show you the reporting I did at the time, which I will not recreate at length here. At that time, I invited LaVelle to tell me her story, but she did not make herself available, perhaps because she was preparing to sue the animal control agency located in Feltonville.

I used other sources and determined Saint had died within 12 hours of arriving at the shelter, which was supposed to provide him with a safe sanctuary, not a quick death. 

Both Philadelphia police and the Pennsylvania SPCA are investigating Saint’s death.

Neither provided information about the separate investigations as of the time this report was filed. ACCT Philly did not respond to a phone call seeking comment. 

The lawsuit filed in Philadelphia’s Court of Common Pleas accuses ACCT Philly of negligence, fraud, and infliction of emotional distress. It seeks a minimum of $50,000 in damages, plus whatever additional costs the court chooses to impose.

The heart of the lawsuit is that Saint had his jaw broken while in the care of ACCT, he was promised care that was not delivered, and that he was wrongly and unlawfully euthanized without the knowledge or consent of the owners.