On April 26, 2006 Marc Vincent chased Henry, his pet dog, with a leaf blower, damaging his eye irreparably. A month later, Vincent put Henry in a 200-degree oven for five minutes, leaving him with severe scaring on his chest and front toes fused together.

With high correlation between animal cruelty and abuse, volunteers petitioned in the Wilkinson Student Center on Wednesday for student support for the passing of a new bill that would ensure harsher punishment for animal cruelty.

Currently, when individuals such as Vincent are convicted of animal cruelty, they are charged with a Class A misdemeanor. With the passing of the Senate Bill 102, or Henry's Law, cruelty to animals will be a first offense felony charge.

At the forefront of the petition process is Rhonda Kamper, Henry's current owner.

"This happened to me first hand and I have met a lot of women in abusive relationships," Kamper said. "They informed me that the abuse started with their pets."

Next week, the signatures will be presented to Utah lawmakers to show the community's support for the bill. With a high acceptance of the Democrats and liberal parties, the group is concerned of the acceptance by the Republicans, Kamper said.

Kamper's boyfriend, Dan Dew, is an active volunteer in this process and gives a lot of time to educate the public and promote the bill.

"This bill mimics the Republican stance, but they still don't want to jump on board," Dew said. "We have to make sure the voices of constituency are heard."

A rally supporting Henry's Law will take place Friday at the Utah State Capitol from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. For more information or to express your support signature, visit www.helpushelpthem.org.

Copyright Brigham Young University 7 Feb 2008