On a brisk Saturday morning, a group of protesters stood outside the Jefferson County Courthouse in Brookville, to protest animal abuse.

The organizers of the protest say, that there needs to be stricter laws for people who abuse animals, and other animal lovers couldn't agree more.

"You wouldn't treat your kids that way, why treat a defenseless animal like that," said one protester.

The inspiration for this protest came when a dog named Angel was brought into the Willow Run Sanctuary, an animal shelter in Coolspring, Pa. Angel was turned into the shelter because she had been abused. According to workers at the shelter, she was starved, and left outside in the cold.

 So out of frustration and anger, the group at Willow Run Sanctuary decided to hold a protest in hopes that one day the punishment for animal abuse will be much stronger then what it currently is: a misdemeanor three -the lowest penalty, according to police.

"Someone needs to do something for the animals that are being abused in this area and no ones helping them," said Dianna Wolford, a protester from Punxsutawney.

The protest was put together by Margo Stefanic, the founder and director of the Willow Run Sanctuary, she explains how she sees many cases of animal abuse in her line of work and she wants it to stop.

"but today is about Angel, we want people to know Angel was a survivor," said Stefanic.

The group held signs and walked quietly up and down the sidewalk out front of the courthouse. Many drivers honked their horns in support of the cause, and others passerbys brought their dogs to greet Angel and be shown some attention. 

As for Angel, she is gaining her weight back and is slowly getting better. She did get lots of attention from everyone on Saturday, including Santa.