Pet Abuse: Henry and Rhonda's Story

In speaking with perfect strangers about the portrait project, it's really amazing what kind of connections are made. I was on the phone with a young lady in Utah while ordering checks for my new organization account at the credit union. She grew curious about the project and I shared the details only to find out that she used to be on the police force for 15 years in Salt Lake City. As an officer she had many stories about domestic violence calls. One of the cases we discussed was about a, Henry, special dog who has become the poster pet for change in Utah legislation.

This poor puppy was hurt severely by the abuser, Marc. He became jealous of the dog and unfortunately, used Henry has a pawn in the torment. After damaging the dog's eye with a leafblower (a vet had to remove it) and later placing the dog in a 200 degree oven for five minutes, Rhonda Kamper divorced her husband and filed a restraining order. Since then, she has been fighting with legislation to pass stronger animal cruelty laws in Utah. Inside the many articles written about this case are facts about the correlation of animal cruelty and domestic violence and murder. The number of animal abuse is astounding.

For this reason, I will include animals in the portrait series. It's an angle rarely discussed by the public. Adding pets to the Bravery project may help people consider animal abuse as precursor to human abuse. Perhaps when one reads an article about someone hurting or neglecting an animal, one may connect the dots because they are definitely there. According to Utah State University Professor, Frank Ascione, 71% of women in a Utah shelter have had a pet threatened or hurt by the abuser. That is in ONLY Utah. Imagine that number across the country.

With some networking and a little timing, this kind ex police officer I spoke with on the phone is forwarding information on the Bravery project to Rhonda. Hopefully, I will have the honor to do Henry's portrait and people who see it will realize another very serious symptom of domestic violence and take action.

I've included some links to more information on Henry and Rhonda's story. They include other similar cases. It truly is an outrage.

Support for Animal Cruelty Law Still Strong
Special Henry Session Sought
Animal Abuse Case Details: Dog beaten with leafblower, placed in oven

If any of you who read this post have an animal you would like to include, by all means, please let me know and I would be happy to add your pet to the project.