I think Yardstick was being sarcastic.
If a coyote were attacking one of my dogs [the 100 pound Dobe, not bloody likely but the 30 lb Portuguese Podengo Medio, possibly] I’d hate doing it but I would kill it with extreme prejudice.
I would not, however, torture it.
Yes, that was sarcastic to the hilt.
I don’t think this guy was torturing these animals, just doing a poor job of killing them. And there is no doubt that this is the Canadian nanny state run amok. The additional charge of “possession of a dangerous weapon” (as mentioned in the post by Jonah Goldberg that I linked earlier) proves it.