Kari Hankle heads the rescue group Out of the Pits, which has been around for 31 years.

She, like many others, was sickened by the allegations against Christopher Maxwell.

Albany police say he left a dog in a crate for several days without food or water before heading to a parking lot, pouring lighter fluid, and starting a fire.

Police say they found a one-year-old female pitbull dead inside the crate.

“I don’t think it starts there,” said Hankle. “I think that if you were to look, this guy probably has a history of cruelty in some form, maybe domestic violence, things like that. You don’t just start by lighting a dog on fire.”

Hankle says there need to be changes to animal cruelty laws.

“I think we need to take the laws out of Ag and Markets for these cases and put it in the penal code,” she said. “There’s more of a chance of people being convicted and police officers doing their jobs, being able to arrest people, and learning about these laws when they’re in the police academy versus it all going through Ag and Markets.”

Animal groups plan to show up to Maxwell’s Friday court appearance.

“There’s a lot of voices for these dogs. There’s a lot of horror in this story that has opened people’s eyes to what we have been saying for a long time, that there’s a big problem going on around here. Obviosly not quite to this extreme thankfully, but somebody has to speak for the dog, so we’ll be there to do that,” said Hankle.

In response to Maxwell’s case, State Senator Jim Tedisco, the driving force behind Buster’s Law, is renewing his calls for doubling time behind bars and creating a statewide registry of animal abusers.

A group called Bark, Brew, and Tattoo that supports bully breeds began a petition demanding Maxwell be held accountable to the fullest extent. So far, it has more than 10,500 signatures.

Hankle says something has to change.

Maxwell is scheduled to appear at Albany City Criminal Court on Morton Avenue at 9am Friday.

“We’re just going to have a presence outside of the courthouse,” said Hankle. “We’re here, we see, we’re watching. We’re not going anywhere. There are some other rescues that are planning to go as well and just kind of be there. Just show that we’re here, we’re watching. We’re waiting for Albany to do the right thing and the laws to change. We’re waiting.”