My husband wasn’t home and my dog got hold of a rabbit. I won’t get to graphic but when I saw the dog tossing the rabbit into the air I put the kids in the playroom and told them to stay there until I got back, no matter what. They hadn’t seen what was going on. I ran out and tried to save the rabbit but it was definitely to late. It even made a crying noise. My heart was broken but after getting the dog out of there I had to grab the shovel and swing hard, the poor thing was suffering and squealing. I didn’t know my own strength so I hit it a couple of more times just to be sure. This sounds horrible as I write it but there was nothing I could do and I wasn’t going to let the dog eat it or rip it apart where my kids play. I quickly
buried it in the flower garden and I told my girls I had buried a rabbit the
dog had killed. They had a little prayer for the rabbit and that was that.
You did not have a firearm on your person that you were trained to use under appropriate circumstances.
An officer does.
You didn’t have a more human method on your person and elected not to use it. You selected the most humane method available to you and dispatched the rabbit quickly.
That is the difference.
You were brave and appropriate in numerous ways. As horrible as it was, you did good. Only other thing you can do now is, if you think you live in an area where this might be repeated, investigate more humane ways to kill a small animal and get whatever tools you need to do it (whether pistol, rifle, shotgun, etc.) But under the circumstances, you did what you had to do - and you protected your children's psyches. As well, given the number of animals that die each day, how many get prayed over? So there's that, too.