A Valentine meet and greet benefit with Ethan in 2022 sold out. (Kentucky Humane Society)

FRANKFORT — In early 2021, Ethan the dog became a Louisville and Kentucky celebrity as the city rallied behind his recovery from horrific neglect.

Ethan’s human, Jeff Callaway, told lawmakers Wednesday that after being sold as a puppy, he was traded for drugs and endured a “hellish” chapter of his life that ultimately led to him being abandoned in the Kentucky Humane Society parking lot.?

Ethan and Callaway were at the Capitol Wednesday to throw their support behind House Bill 258, which would make it a Class D felony to torture a dog or cat. A similar bill passed a few hurdles in the 2023 session but did not make it into law.?

The House Judiciary committee passed the 2024 bill, sponsored by Louisville Republican Susan Witten and a slew of others, 16-1-1. Rep. John Blanton, R-Salyersville, was the only pass vote. Rep. Savannah Maddox, R-Dry Ridge voted no.?

The bill includes definitions of torture, exemptions for certain medical modifications like ear cropping and lays out protections for hunters.?

“Locked up in a cage isn’t enough to be charged with torture,” Witten told her colleagues. “But being intentionally starved, causing serious injury or death, or being locked up and unable to escape does fit the definition.”?

Witten wants the bill to be known as Ethan’s Law in honor of the dog’s remarkable recovery.?

While Witten and Callaway testified, Ethan, primarily a brindle Presa Canario, munched on treats and periodically whimpered as he lay next to the desk where they were seated.

“Ethan was intentionally restrained in a kennel that was way too small for him, too small for him to stand or even move around,” Callaway, a facilities director for Kentucky Humane Society, told lawmakers. Because of the way he was confined, Ethan developed pressure sores to the bone, the scars of which he still bears.?

“He was intentionally deprived of food and water. He suffered from a lack of food for so long that his body began to deteriorate,” Callaway testified. “The loss of his internal body fat was followed by muscle loss and atrophy. His internal organs began to shut down.”?

Ethan, whose breed should weigh about 90 pounds, weighed only 38 when Kentucky Humane Society staff brought him inside from the parking lot, where he had been abandoned.

He was so dehydrated, Callaway said, that veterinarian staff had to use a needle made to fit a baby kitten because his veins were so small.?

“To see him that day was devastating,” Callaway said. “Upon first glance, you would think he was not alive. He was unable to lift his head or move.” Ethan takes seizure medication now, Callaway said, because “intentional starvation and dehydration” led to lesions forming in his brain.?

What was done to Ethan, Callaway said, “is a crime and it needs to be a felony. Someone knew exactly what they were doing, and they just didn’t care. And make no mistake: the person that abused Ethan is abusing somebody else right now to this day. Maybe another dog and maybe another cat. More likely it’s a person — a child, a partner, spouse.”?

Sen. Lindsey Tichenor, R-Smithfield, has filed a related bill that would require animal control officers in Kentucky to learn how to recognize child abuse and neglect — physical, sexual and emotional. That bill has been assigned to the Families and Children Committee.?

“Ethan had to endure every aspect and defining point of this bill,” Callaway told lawmakers. “He’s shown that even through intentional neglect and abuse, love and kindness still win.”?