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RALEIGH — Susie gave her stamp, or rather, paw print of approval to a law she inspired during a bill signing ceremony outside the N.C. Executive Mansion today.

The pit bull mix wore pearls and had her nails painted pink to place an inked up paw print beside Gov. Bev Perdue’s signature on a measure to increase the penalties for animal cruelty.

“Susie inspired a lot of us to stand up and say in North Carolina we value our animals,” Perdue said after greeting Susie with a pat on the head. “I can’t imagine what I would have done or what I would have said or how angry and hurt I would have been if somebody had done to our dog what was done to Susie. I think it’s absolutely unacceptable.”

Although not forgotten, the day Susie was beaten, burned and left for dead seemed long ago on the executive mansion's shady back lawn. Her biggest problem was making peace with Zipper and Dosie, Perdue’s two terriers. After a few barks and snaps, all parties involved seemed to settle into the spirit of the day.

“This kind of wanton disregard for life leads to further kinds of abuse down the road,” Rep. Pricey Harrison said of Susie’s case. The Greensboro Democrat along with Sen. Don Vaughan and other members of the Guilford County delegation helped push the bill through the General Assembly this summer.

It increases the penalty for felony animal cruelty in the state to a Class H level felony, which will allow for jail time, even for first time offenders like the one who attacked Susie.

A passer-by found Susie near death in Greenfield Park on Aug. 20, 2009 . She had been severely beaten, burned and was covered in maggots. Veternarians who examined her at the Guilford County Animal Shelter estimated she had been in that condition for two weeks.

Susie’s ears were singed off and much of her fur gone from the flames. She had a broken jaw and teeth were missing. For months, the case went unsolved as Susie was nursed back to health while staying with a foster family.

In November, 21-year-old Lashawn Whitehead was turned in to police by his mother after she found out he assaulted the dog, which belonged to his girlfriend.

Whitehead attacked the dog in a fit of rage after the dog licked his newborn son, his lawyer would later say in court. He took Susie outside, beat her and dripped lighter fluid on her body and set her ablaze according to court testimony. Susie ran off and was later found in the park.

Whitehead pleaded guilty and was sentenced in February. He received six to eight months in prison on a charge of burning personal property — the dog — the same sentence he could have received for burning a mattress.

The charge only applied because the dog belonged to his girlfriend and not him.

For a conviction of felony animal cruelty, Whitehead received 18 months of probation — the toughest sentence he could receive without a prior record.

That didn’t sit well with Susie’s supporters, who embarked on a statewide campaign to gain support to get the sentence toughened.

Susie’s Law goes into effect on Dec. 1.

Contact Mark Binker at (919) 832-5549 or mark.binker@news-record.com.

Contact Ryan Seals at (336) 373-7077 or ryan.seals@news-record.com.