A 5-month-old kitten in Taylorsville, Utah, is dead, and the man charged in its death now faces a felony. The Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office should pursue that felony charge fully and fairly, and not let it shrink to a lesser offense through a plea deal.

Shaun Clifford Jaussi, 38, was charged this week in 3rd District Court with a third-degree felony count of torturing a companion animal. He also faces misdemeanor charges for dangerous weapon conduct and interfering with police. According to charging documents reported by KSL, officers went to his apartment on Sept. 29 after someone reported that the kitten may have been killed. They found it in his open garage. An autopsy later showed the kitten died from blunt force trauma.

Police say this was far from the first call about him. Taylorsville officers had responded to 29 complaints involving Jaussi, according to the charges, which describe an ongoing pattern of disturbance in his neighborhood.

Jaussi is entitled to his day in court, and the charges have not been proven. He was placed on a psychiatric hold after his arrest, and any outcome should include whatever mental health treatment the court finds necessary. But a kitten cannot speak for itself. Utah law treats the torture of a companion animal as a felony for a reason, and this case deserves the full weight of that law, including a request that the court bar him from owning or caring for animals if he is convicted.

Sign the petition to ask the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office to pursue the full felony charge now, while the case is still in its earliest stage.