Witnesses watched. Children cried. And the man responsible walked away with nothing more than a court summons.

On May 3, neighbors in Lehi, Utah witnessed 40-year-old William Chatham pick up his girlfriend's cat by the neck and repeatedly slam it into the ground, against a door, and onto concrete steps. Several children were present and were left emotionally distressed. When police arrived, the cat had missing fur, bleeding skin, visible leg injuries, and was breathing heavily. Officers noted Chatham had fresh scratch marks on his body. He admitted to handling the cat roughly.

Chatham was not arrested. He was handed a summons.

He is charged with torturing a companion animal, a third-degree felony in Utah — defined as intentionally causing extreme physical pain to an animal in an especially heinous or cruel manner. That charge exists for exactly this kind of case. A man who slams a defenseless animal into concrete in front of children, in broad daylight, in front of multiple witnesses, deserves to face the full weight of it.

The cat is still recovering. Chatham is still free.

Sign this petition to demand Utah prosecutors pursue the maximum penalty for William Chatham and send a clear message that animal torture in this state will not be treated as an afterthought.