I honestly don’t know- I’d have to read the statute first- it could be that legally, it is hard to distinguish between the guy that shoots a dog in the head to put it down humanely and the guy that gets off on shooting and hurting animals. And there’s still the issue of disposing of the body afterwords.
Frankly, the felony count doesn’t really bug me, but I also assume that any sentencing would be mitigated by his motivations.
And yes, I know that this is common in rural areas. Of course, my son’s dad lives out there, and he still wonders why we put our trash out on the sidewalk to be picked up- his dad just has a huge ‘burn-pile’ for all of his trash (organic and otherwise). So telling me that it’s acceptable ‘cause country folks don’t know any better’ is not a winner for me.
If I were a rural owner of an animal which had to be put down, I should think a quick and painless bullet to the head (if done efficiently) would be the most humane way to handle the matter. Certainly less traumatic for the animal than “a car ride to a scary, unfamiliar place with a lobby filled with strange cats and dogs, followed by a wait on a cold metal table, and then [having some stranger] come in and [jab] him with needles.” (Thanks for that imagery, sugaree.)
In the MPSIMS thread on this topic, I was asking why shooting a puppy is a felony animal cruelty whereas game hunting is not, my question was not answered. FWIW, I am from rural area and I have put down sick cats and dogs at times. I’ve always hated it, but I hated watching them suffer more. In fact the only animal I have ever relished killing was a cocker spaniel that had mauled my daughter’s face. I blew his brains to kingdom come, but only for the revenge.
You shoulda searched the board on animal cruelty. If I’d seen the MPSIMS thread, I’d probably have suggested it then. But I went back in my posts to find where I’d commented on this topic. Of course, in that thread, the issue was hypothetical.
Here’s the link for a thread which went into some aspects which haven’t yet been mentioned in this thread. I’d suspect that there have been many threads on this subject, and if you did that search, you’d find lots of discussion.