Exactly. Most of the people on here are talking about putting a dog down using a bullet VS euthanasia and what's more humane, and thus telling stories about some old or injured dog that was put down by a gun rather then a needle. Not sure how many of you read my post about how I grew up on a rural farm where this was done to old and sick animals about as often as it was needed, so obviously I'm not arguing the method of being put down. I'm arguing the reason. This dog was not sick, old, or injured. There was no indications it was man aggressive. From the sounds of it, it's only issue was being an ill-trained, under stimulated cattle dog. Kind of like how Marlin was when I first adopted him. If what the OP said is true, it wasn't warranted here. I don't care if it was legal, or "his right as a pet owner", or whatever other BS reasons people have been coming up with. It was wrong.
I won't argue with you about that. I don't think being rowdy is a valid reason to kill a dog. As a rancher, I think the man should have KNOWN that a cattle dog is an energetic animal, especially as a puppy. It was common knowledge where I grew up.
There is no indication that the dog was man-aggressive. There is also no indication that it did anything but play too roughly with the older dog. No other information provided, so who knows? How is it fair to pass judgment based on so little information?
Honestly, having grown up on a ranch and around ranchers, I completely understand that dogs ARE tools. A good stockdog does wonders for a rancher, and a bad stockdog can run weight off his livestock, stress/harass them, injure them and kill them. When livestock are your livelihood, their lives and well being are just as, if not more important than the well being of your stockdog.
Yes, the dog is a living being and its life deserves to be respected. As do the lives of the other animals on the farm! What makes the dog's life more important than the veteran stockdog it's picking fights with, or the cattle or sheep or chickens it's chasing/injuring/killing? Not every farmer can afford to hang onto a dog until someone shows up who wants to take it in. Most shelters will not be able to adopt out a young, rough working-breed dog to a pet home. Pops makes a good point that a lot of the dogs who are bred specifically as working animals are NOT good pets for 99.9% of the population.
I don't disagree that it would be fair to give the dog a chance at a new home, and if I were in that farmer's shoes I certainly would've tried to find the dog a home, but I can't treat a farmer with a working ranch dog the same way I would treat a family in the suburbs with their newly adopted pet. Animals on ranches are held to different standards.
Perhaps it's because I've spent the last 4 years in a third world country with very little consideration for the lives of animals, but I just can't see shooting and killing an animal as inhumane. Shooting it and leaving it to slowly die? Horrible. Botching a euthanasia? Horrible. But a clean shot to the head is quick and painless.
I could never shoot a dog for rowdy behavior alone, but knowing ranchers and growing up in that community, I am willing to bet that there was more to that story than just the minor inconvenience of one pet playing too roughly with another.
How about you go back and read my responses in this thread, then see if you can't come to another conclusion.