a sad saga of some irresponsible pet owners

Recently in the news there was this hotly debated story about a guy in Hampstead, New Hampshire who shot a dog that was on his property by defending his beloved rabbits.
It's hard for me to really comment on this story because the only info I am getting is what is written in the paper. However, I''ll give you my two cents anyways.
Many dog lovers were in a total uproar that this fellow shot the dog.
Would I have shot a dog if it was going after my birds?
As I am sitting here typing I would probably say "NO!".
 I would , however, go chase after the dog with a broom. If the dog was say, a pit bull or some other scary aggressive dog I might think differently. But like I said, I wasn't there and I do not know the details.
The dog in question was a brittany spaniel which is a hunting dog breed.
My first reaction is "awww poor dog. This is terrible!".
 I like dogs and I think this situation could have been prevented.
 I blame this incident 100% on  the OWNERS of this wayward dog.
I saw an interview of the owners. They are two fat couch potatoes. They were whining that their dog "just wanted to play (with the rabbits)"
Really
Idiots.
Brittanys are hunting dogs.
This would not have happened if they got off the couch , put a leash on the dog and didn't let him wander off on other people's property to do his business.
There was a similar story in 2007 that happened in Newburyport. A young couple were out walking with their 6 month German shepherd mix dog. They had their dog off leash but did not pay attention to his where abouts. They also admitted that their dog did not "come back" when called to. The dog wandered off to a private farm. The dog had enough time to claw his way up and under a enclosed pen and viciously attack their chickens.The owner of the chickens tried to get the dog away from the chickens but the dog was in such  a frenzy he felt he had no choice but to put the dog down.
There were LOTS of comments regarding this situation.
Again, this was a very sad and preventable situation.
Some of the comments were  obnoxious and irritating.
One woman wrote that the "dog life was worth more than the chickens".
Those chickens were that property owners pets. I can bet this same type of woman when a dog jumps on you aggressively turns around and blames you for it, and that the dog "just wanted to play".
I seen enough of these types of cases on "Judge Judy".
Judge Judy is an animal lover but she get's annoyed with these irresponsible dog owners  blame other people for their own stupidity and negligence.
The sad part is that the dog had to pay the price.