Chronicle's view: Throw the book at dog cooks
Issue date: 2/21/08 Section: Opinion
Sometimes problems in life have no straightforward answers. Other times the answers come in crystal clear -- and we must be willing to accept them. One such instance of a clear answer is Senate Bill 102 -- more commonly known as Henry's Law.
Most know of Henry, the chihuahua who had his eye poked out with a leaf blower and who was then put in a burning oven by his owner's now ex-husband.
SB 102 has gone through nearly a decade of lobbying and last year adopted Henry's name and story to illustrate what the law is attempting to do -- save animals from being tortured by humans.
There are many stories like his, but Henry's clearly illustrates that there is a problem of animal abuse that we need to fix.
Most likely, Henry's Law is being pushed back for another year because of the lack of support from Utah lawmakers.
It is ridiculous that something as clear-cut as a law that would punish those who would put a living animal into an oven would have to jump through so many loops and be held back for so long.
There are, of course, other watered-down versions of Henry's Law on the hill -- one that would wait for the second offense before considering torture a felony and another that would make it harder to define exactly what the torture of an animal is.
The answer, in this situation, is not to water down the law or make it more difficult to convict someone who would torture an animal. The answer is also not to sit on such a publicly supported bill. No, in this case, the answer is to punish those who would hurt something so innocent as an animal that cannot defend itself.
The law makes sense, and we should all let it be known that we support something so clearly right.
letters@chronicle.utah.edu
Most know of Henry, the chihuahua who had his eye poked out with a leaf blower and who was then put in a burning oven by his owner's now ex-husband.
SB 102 has gone through nearly a decade of lobbying and last year adopted Henry's name and story to illustrate what the law is attempting to do -- save animals from being tortured by humans.
There are many stories like his, but Henry's clearly illustrates that there is a problem of animal abuse that we need to fix.
Most likely, Henry's Law is being pushed back for another year because of the lack of support from Utah lawmakers.
It is ridiculous that something as clear-cut as a law that would punish those who would put a living animal into an oven would have to jump through so many loops and be held back for so long.
There are, of course, other watered-down versions of Henry's Law on the hill -- one that would wait for the second offense before considering torture a felony and another that would make it harder to define exactly what the torture of an animal is.
The answer, in this situation, is not to water down the law or make it more difficult to convict someone who would torture an animal. The answer is also not to sit on such a publicly supported bill. No, in this case, the answer is to punish those who would hurt something so innocent as an animal that cannot defend itself.
The law makes sense, and we should all let it be known that we support something so clearly right.
letters@chronicle.utah.edu
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