This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A longtime Utah animal rights advocate has died.
Anne Davis, director of the Salt Lake City-based Animal Advocacy alliance of Utah, died Aug. 30, according to her obituary.
Davis, 55, helped lead efforts to strengthen animal cruelty laws, culminating in the 2008 passage of "Henry's Law," which made the torture of companion animals a third-degree felony.
The law, named for a dog who was nearly killed when he was put into an oven by its owner's ex-husband, underwent a year of defeats and amendments while lawmakers debated whether a potential five-year prison sentence was too harsh for first-time offenders. The measure had broad public support, however, and since has been used to enhance charges in multiple animal cruelty cases.
After Utah's first felony torture case was prosecuted in 2009, involving a West Valley City man who stomped and beat a puppy to death, Davis reflected on more than a decade of legislative advocacy.
"We started in 1996 with an upgrade from a class C misdemeanor to a class A," Davis said. "After all those years it's paying off."
In 2010, Davis pushed for statewide standards to kill animals in shelters, banning gas chambers and drowning, but the bill failed.
Davis also publicly discouraged in-home "euthanasia" services, animal hoarding, and fur clothing.
Gene Baierschmidt, director of the Humane Society of Utah, described Davis as "a leading advocate for animal welfare in our state for many years and a true voice for those who cannot speak for themselves."
"Working with the Humane Society of Utah in 2008, Anne was instrumental in helping us get legislation passed that made animal cruelty and torture a criminal offense," Davis said. "That accomplishment along with her love of all animals should be her legacy."
In the 1990s, Davis organized an animal advocacy group to protest conditions at Hogle Zoo, where federal inspectors later ordered improvements and collected fines.
She also spoke out against violent animal-rights activism and pointed police to a co-worker suspected of being involved with the Animal Liberation Front's alleged 1995 firebombing of Majestic Meats, a meat plant in Salt Lake City. She was arrested for refusing to testify against the suspect after receiving death threats.