Please read every post I've made on this thread. Nowhere have I justified what the cop did. By that same token, if there was nobody home, why wasn't the dog locked securely inside? If a pack of feral dogs found the dog tied up and mauled the ladies dog, would you feel better about it since it wasn't a cop who had no business in her backyard? If it had been a neighborhood kid with a yard that abutted her backyard, shooting the dog with a pellet gun, would that make you feel better, since the kid had a reason to be where he was?
What the cop did was wrong, no question, but the lady put the dog in a position where he was vulnerable. If you look at my analogy in a previous post, if I park my car in a bad part of town, leave the keys in the ignition and the doors unlocked and walk away from it, that in no way justifies the thief who inevitably steals it, but it doesn't mean I'm not a dumbass for leaving it like that.
I will not, in any way, remotely excuse the gutless bastard who tazed the restrained, helpless dog *but* I never let my dogs out unless I am there watching them.
Whatever [whomever] hurts my dogs gets plugged.
No exceptions.
No mercy.
No remorse.
I guess what wasn’t clear was whether the back yard was fully enclosed or not. If it wasn’t, she did what I consider reasonable, leave the dog on a long enough tether to be able to move around, but not get off the back yard. One should be able to be safe in one’s own backyard, whether you are a person or a dog.
But the sheriff still had no business in the back yard, he just left his card at the front door, he could have done that to begin with, instead of going to the back yard, where the dog was. Also, since the dog was tied up, he could see how far the dog can go and as long as he stayed out of that range, he was in no danger from the dog. So there is no justification for what he did.