Document Actions
Tues: Susie's Big Day
posted at 2010-06-15 23:34 | Last modified 2010-06-16 00:26
You don’t see too many beautiful souls at the legislature. Blame it on the business, maybe. But a few of them showed up at Senate Judiciary 1 today, tied together by a leash and a truly horrible story.
Susie isn’t pretty on the outside, at least in conventional terms. The one-year old pitbull-shepherd mix is a mass of scars, just curled stubs left where her ears were burned away by a man who beat her, set her on fire, and left her for dead in a Greensboro park last year.
For a dog lover like me, it’s painful to look at her. And for her, it’s no doubt even harder to be friendly to a stranger like me, or the dozens of others who crowded around to see her today. Yet she was calm, friendly, thankful for a scratch on her scars, and bestowing a kiss here and there. All celebrities should be so gracious.
She probably wouldn’t be so gracious, either, if not for the devotion of the volunteers who found her, maggot-infested and dying, nursed her back to health, and helped her see that not all humans would hurt her. After what she went through, that can’t have been an easy lesson for her to learn.
Many of those volunteers were on hand today to urge lawmakers to pass Susie’s Law – a bill increasing the penalties for heinous cases of animal abuse like hers. When the man who tortured her was caught and charged, current law didn’t give the judge the right to put him in jail for what he did to her. Prosecutors had to rely on charges of “burning of personal property” instead of animal cruelty laws, because as of now, first-time offenders get more jail time in NC for setting a mailbox on fire than a dog.
The gut-and-amend version of S254 passed the House unanimously, but got hung up in the Senate. In committee today, Senator Hoyle blamed the delay on his discomfort with the whole gut-and-amend process. But insiders say it was held up by the NRA and by hunting dog lobbyist Henri McClees, who allegedly told senators it was a plot by PETA to entrap hunters and farmers under the “maim or torture” clause, even though the bill clearly states that isn’t true.
Still, all the lobbyists in the world couldn’t compete with Susie in person. While her foster mom Roberta Wall testified, Susie stretched elaborately and flumped down on the carpet, giving J1 a good look at her ruined ears and her pink and black scars.
It’s hard to argue against jail time for aggravated abuse when you’re confronted with its aftermath. But Susie doesn’t know she’s evidence. She just thinks she’s beautiful, and she is - especially to the 20,000 people who follow her on Facebook and have called and written legislators on her behalf.
For her appearance today, her new owner Donna Lawrence painted Susie’s toenails pink. They matched her collar, a pretty pale pink affair, an unsolicited handmade gift from a well-wisher in Asheville. Sewn into it is a little silver tag that says “Hope.”
That’s what Lawrence is hoping Susie can give back. She’s training Susie to be a therapy dog for kids in burn units. It’s a perfect match. Even after what was done to her, Susie has a lot of love to give. I can’t think of a better beneficiary than those who can see the beauty through the scars.
Susie's Law is scheduled for a concurrence vote Wednesday afternoon in the Senate. If it passes, it goes to the Governor - who, a dog-lover herself, is a pretty fair bet to sign it.
Comments? Drop me a line.
& Newsletters
