House doesn't support a raise of the animal-torture penalty

While a number of measures increasing penalties for crimes across the board are flying through the Utah Legislature, Tuesday the House refused to get tougher on people who torture animals.

Increasing the penalty for torturing an animal from a Class A misdemeanor to a third-degree felony "is the heart of the bill," said sponsoring Rep. Scott Wyatt, R-Logan.

Still the House amended HB61 to lower the penalty back to the current law's Class A.

The debate and vote came after the House — without comment — agreed to Rep. Dave Ure's HB227, which increases the penalty for a tattoo artist or tattoo parlor owner who allows a minor to be tattooed or have a skin piercing without a parent's permission from a class C misdemeanor to a class B misdemeanor.

Wyatt was frustrated by the amendment, put forward by Rep. Wayne Harper, R-West Jordan, and supported by most of Wyatt's GOP colleagues.

Wyatt said a bill just like the one amended Tuesday passed the House a year ago with little comment or debate.

"I suppose it was my fault for not explaining it better," said Wyatt after his bill was "gutted" by lowering the penalty. "I don't know where I go from here."

A final vote on HB61 was put off so that the Harper amendments could be put into the measure.