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GREENSBORO -- Animal rights activists from across the state canvassed neighborhoods Sunday encouraging stricter penalties against people who abuse animals.

They want to pass Susie's Law, named for a pit bull-mix puppy who was beaten, set on fire and left to die in a Greensboro park.

“I think it's exciting to see the dog behind the behind the story, you know to hear the story you know but to see it live, to see the dog alive. I think it brings life to it, it brings life to the story,” Donna Lawrence, Susie's adopted owner said.

Her assailant, 21-year-old Lashawn Whitehead, got probation for the crime. He was also sentenced to six to eights months for burning personal property.

“In this case, we say Mr. Whitehead could have burned a couch and gotten a tougher sentence or an active prison sentence rather than burning Susie, since there is a lesser charge for cruelty to animals,” Stefanie Milroy, an organizer passing out flyers, said.

But they're not just rallying support in Guilford County. From Mecklenburg to Wake and counties in between, volunteers are passing out flyers all with one goal in mind, tougher penalties for the people who hurt animals.

“We can't really change the outcome of the hearing that we went to and what happened in her case but we can turn a terrible situation into a positive situation,” Milroy said.

Milroy says they're very close to having tougher laws thanks to some help from state Sen. Don Vaughn. He plans on adding Susie's Law to an already existing puppy mill bill that's set to be taken up by the legislature in May.

“So we are hoping that as many people as we can get will write letters by May to show that it's not just a small group of people that support this, it's statewide and we want to see this changed,” Milroy said.

And they plan to continue going door-to-door until that happens.

Right now, cruelty to animals is a Class I felony in North Carolina. Organizers hope to get it reclassified to a Class F felony, which includes an active prison sentence.