It is not “pitch” dark in larger towns and/or cities, because of street lights, house lights, etc.
Moreover, if it was “pitch” dark, then the government employee shot foolishly, being entirely unaware of who was behind the target.
If it was not pitch dark, the government employee shot foolishly, capable of seeing the lead.
Personal responsibility doesn’t solely extend to dog owners.
He sure got “good grouping” for shooting a black dog in the pitch dark.
/s
I should have read more comments but the ditch dark comment got me. looks like you beat me to it. :)
Those damned stupid retractable leads (i.e., “I have absolutely no control over my dog; he controls me”) are paper thin. Combine that with darkness (sorry, street lights are NOT the same as full-blown daylight), and you can easily not see the lead.
That being said, my snap judgement here would be the (off-duty neighbor, thus not quite the same as usual case) cop far overreacted, loose or not.