The dog could not have been THAT viscious if he chased it out of the yard .
“The dog could not have been THAT viscious if he chased it out of the yard.”
The level of viciousness cannot be determined based on the distance and direction traveled by an irrational creature. Dogs pounce and then retreat all the time. And they continue to run when they start running.
Incapacitating the dog might have been necessary, because it might have turned back and attacked the guy.