I agree that there's fat and then there's obese, and yes, I do think for dogs that are really obese that is abuse. I have once seen a dog that was terribly obese - not so much it couldn't walk but it was clearly hard for it to walk. It was out in hot summer heat and it was QUITE obese and I was just disgusted with the owners for letting their dog get THAT obese and then subjecting it to being in that intense heat. It was a black dog on top of it all so that sure wasn't helping the heat issue.
As for dogs that are just a bit fat, I don't like to see it but I think most people really don't know what ideal weight for a dog looks like. I'd rather a dog be slightly overweight than quite honestly too skinny. I do think education is the key. Attempting to legislate the weight of a dog just seems like asking for trouble!
I also agree with sparks that sometimes a dog's weight can just get away from you and it doesn't mean somebody is a terrible owner... it's just an honest mistake. Auggie has so much fur that unless he is dripping weight or you are really putting your hands on him to check for weight, it's hard to see his body underneath. I think I posted on here before about a couple years ago, I took him to the vet and he weighed 22 pounds, and I was like OMG... that is A LOT. The vet tech that weighed him didn't say anything and the vet didn't say anything, but I was just like OMG that cannot be right. I took him to his breeder's husband and was like "Seriously, I think he's fat. Tell me... is he fat, or just fluffy?" Yeah, he was a little beyond fluffy. Whoops. We put him on a diet for a bit and then made further adjustments to what he was eating until we found the right balance.
Now I am MUCH more aware of it and am constantly putting my hands on Auggie to check his figure, and I have a really good feel for it now - like I can tell when he's 16 pounds rather than 15. I don't have a scale of my own and we aren't at the vet very often, but I remember one time when I was picking him up and feeling around and was like "Golly, Auggie, you are getting fat again!" This was right about when I took him to the canine chiropractor and when they put him on the scale, sure enough, he was 16 pounds. Turns out when my dad had been "helping" feeding Auggie breakfast in the mornings, he was overfeeding him. But I know not everybody is going to be as concerned with it as I am... extra weight on my little athlete is not only going to be bad for his performance but more importantly it's extra strain on his joints when he jumps that he does NOT need. Anybody who doesn't have that to worry about probably isn't going to be basically obsessed with it the way I am, LOL.