A volunteer at a beloved no-kill Brooklyn animal shelter filed a lawsuit accusing the nonprofit of delivery unadoptable canine to their deaths down south to make approach for worthwhile puppies.
The explosive allegations in opposition to Sean Casey Animal Rescue had been included in a small claims swimsuit filed by Dana Paoli, who’s attempting to claw again a $1,000 donation he made to SCAR after the loss of life of Gunther, a pitbull combine who was euthanized in Arkansas over “aggressive” conduct.
However volunteers say the 3-year-old white canine was extra Clifford than Cujo and was sentenced to loss of life for taking on kennel area.
“He was super-duper pleasant. He needed to fulfill all people. The one actual downside I had strolling with him was that each single particular person we handed, he needed to say ‘hello,’” stated Paoli, a volunteer who estimates he spent over 200 walks with the “little snuggle cuddle bear” throughout its one-year keep at SCAR.
“He preferred to face up on his hind legs and put his paws in your waist. If he bought revved up, he may begin enjoying too arduous, similar to anyone.”
Paoli and different volunteers had a suspicion that Gunther would quickly go away SCAR and even bade him their goodbyes the final weekend of March upon realizing he was arising on his one-year anniversary on the shelter.
The longtime shelter has a $500 base adoption price for canine, with an extra $450 “pet package deal” price tacked on for youthful, extra simply adoptable canine.
Gunther was shipped on March 29 to NovaStar Rescue, SCAR’s companion shelter greater than 1,300 miles away in Dover, Arkansas, and euthanized 4 days in a while April 3, with a veterinarian ruling that Gunther was “very aggressive.”
Paoli was shocked on the allegations, saying Gunther was one of many sweetest canines he had gotten to know over his 5 years at SCAR.
The Submit talked with two different volunteers who echoed Gunther’s mild and “candy” character, saying he would playfully nip in moments of pleasure, however was removed from harmful.
SCAR first labeled Gunther as “aggressive” in August 2025 when he was adopted and re-surrendered following a “biting” incident, main the shelter to ask volunteers to signal legal responsibility waivers earlier than strolling Gunther.
When reached by The Submit, Gunther’s proprietor would solely say that the canine had aggressive tendencies, however stated they had been “manageable.”
“My sense is that once they needed that area and the canine had been round for a very long time earlier than it went to Arkansas and the puppies got here in,” stated Paoli, including that he was not in a monetary place to undertake Gunther himself.
SCAR is a delegated no-kill shelter, which suggests it has a placement charge of 90% or greater and euthanizes animals with untreatable diseases or conduct points after different choices are exhausted.
Paoli filed a swimsuit in Brooklyn small claims courtroom final month over a $1,000 donation he made to SCAR three years in the past, alleging that the shelter “holds itself forth as a no-kill animal shelter however doesn’t act as such.”
SCAR slammed the lawsuit as “frivolous,” telling The Submit Paoli was finishing up a misguided marketing campaign to appease his damaged coronary heart.
“He was very hooked up to Gunther and he liked him. I fully perceive his anger and we do really feel horrible for him. However being offended doesn’t make all the pieces true,” stated Sean Casey, the shelter’s namesake proprietor, including that Gunther was additionally a workers favourite regardless of his “historical past.”
“More often than not, the canine was great and could possibly be very candy or affectionate and that’s what you see and that’s what you fall in love with and that’s what you get hooked up to. In different moments, he would simply have these suits. Numerous them had been out of nowhere.”
SCAR despatched Gunther to NovaStar — which has a lauded historical past of aiding legislation enforcement in canine rescues — to offer Gunther a “final likelihood” in its quieter southern panorama, Casey stated.
The pair of shelters usually swap canine between their rural and concrete places to open canines with issue being adopted to a brand new viewers, and a number of other canine have been efficiently rehomed in several states.
Paoli’s lawsuit has ignited a keyboard warrior firestorm in opposition to each SCAR and NovaStar — with the overwhelming fury pushing NovaStar’s founder to give up her personal rescue.
“I’m 70 years outdated and I don’t wish to spend nevertheless a lot life I’ve left getting bashed by b–ches and whores that know nothing about me, my life or my rescue, and I’m simply accomplished … I give up, you win,” Terre Wooden fumed in a Fb publish that blamed Paoli for her departure.
In an announcement, NovaStar informed The Submit it might proceed working, stating: “We reside in a world the place the hate is louder than the love, and over time that takes a toll on the individuals doing the arduous work each single day.”
SCAR’s legal professionals anticipate the case to get thrown out and have raised the potential of bringing a defamation swimsuit in opposition to Paoli.
“We’re seeing this centered assault, as a result of this particular person grew to become near a canine, the place he misrepresents the character of the canine and he misrepresents what occurred to the canine,” Ezra Glaser, an legal professional for SCAR, stated.
