You've really jumped on the judgement wagon. You've condemmed the guy as cruel when it seems to me as though there could be all sorts of reasons, some quite reasonable, as to why a person would tie up a dog at night in a rural area that have nothing to do with cruelity.
One, and the most likely, is that it's probably illegal to let him roam loose at night, due to possible interactions with neighbors and wildlife; as well as a nuisance (think skunks).
Probably the yard is unfenced, and the guy maybe can't afford a fence. They can be awfully expensive, especially if you've got an acre or so. It did say he lived in a trailor.
It wasn't exactly a puppy; 8 months old is nearly grown, and a rottweiler-lab mix is not exactly small.It doesn't seem unreasonable that a big guard dog would spend the night outdoors.
My sister lives in the mountains and their two labs spend all night outside every night. Their yard is not fenced, why would you on 20 acres ? They are chained up so they don't run around chasing stuff, but are by the house to monitor the yard, and make a noise if something prowls around. That seems like a perfectly reasonable use of a guard-type dog. The dogs don't seem to mind, and I don't think my sister is cruel or sadistic, nor that there is anything wrong with doing that. They love their dogs.
Maybe people don't do it in polar bear country, but Nederland Colorado is hardly the wilds of Alsaka. If the guy hadn't considered the possiblity that a mountain lion might one night attack his dog, he can hardly be condemed as stupid.
ANd he was monitoring he situation, because he was out there in time to save his dog, and kill the lion.
Careful...I did not in any way condemn the guy as cruel...as a matter of fact, I was sticking up for him because he was tuned into the state of the helpless animal and came out in time to save it.
Re-read my post...I don’t think you and I disagree.