Shooting dogs in Shelley

There's a story that KIDK has been following out of Shelley about a policeman who shot an aging dog, to put him out of his misery.

Since I don't know everything about this case, let me hurry up and say that the cop acted stupidly.

OK, that was just a cheap shot on my part. But, now that we have a cop and an angry victim we can move forward with an awkward beer summit. (It'll have to be a root beer summit, since I don't do beer.)

Actually I think we do know enough to substantively comment...

Old dog wandering around a neighborhood, so old it looks sick.
Resident calls the police to report the wandering sick-looking dog.
Three officers arrive on the scene of this dire emergency.
One of them decides the sick-looking dog needs to be put out of its misery.
Cop pulls the gun, and fires FOUR shots into the canine. (This cop must be a great shot. Most of the time it takes ten or fifteen rounds to kill an old sick-looking dog).
Dog dies.
Owner is angry.
Community is upset.
A meeting is held.
Cops stand by their decision.

So... there's the story. I feel badly for the owner of the dog. And, frankly, I think the cops messed up. If a dog is acting viciously -- or is a pit bull -- shoot it immediately. But if it's just sick looking, for heaven's sake, find the owner first.