What was the dog doing when the shooter pulled the trigger? You can't completely condemn the shooter without knowing the circumstances, for all you know he could have been defending himself or one of his kids from the dog, or perhaps protecting his livestock. My neighbor recently lost nearly nearly fifty chickens to a pair of pitbulls owned by a guy on the next street, these dogs ran freely all the time despite numerous warnings to the owner by neighbors and the sheriff. When he discovered the dogs in his pen killing his livestock he shot both of them, and then dropped them on their owner's front porch. I didn't blame him one bit for doing it, I would've done no less. Every state has animal restraint laws, your right to own a dog is contingent upon your observance of those laws whether you agree with them or not.