Actually, "we" is a misstatement -- "she," as in my wife, did this all on her own. I miss everything by having to work.
So here's the deal, on the flip. You tell me what you think should have been done.
My wife went back to bed this morning with a sinus headache after packing all of us off to work and school. About 9:30 she wakes up hearing voices from the back yard. A man and his wife are roaming through our yard, the man holding a plastic retractable dog leash, obviously looking for a lost dog. No problem, she thinks, hope you find the missing puppy. She doesn't go outside because she's still in her pajamas and still feels lousy.
A few minutes later, she hears shouting and yelping just outside our back deck. He's found his dog, a not-quite-grown St Bernard full of vigor and mischief, and is squatting down over the dog, beating the hell out of it with the plastic leash. The dog is howling and yelping in pain.
That's when Mrs. Max leapt outside, in her pajamas, broom in hand, yelling "Stop beating that poor dog, you son of a bitch!" The guy looked up from his pounding on the cowering animal and yelled back a blistering tirade of obscenities which I won't repeat here. Mrs. Max -- God, I love that woman -- yelled back, "You aren't going to beat any dog for any reason on my property, you asshole!" At that point, he yelled, "No one tells me what to do with my dog, you feminist dyke," and advanced on her.
My beloved wife, peg o' my heart, lit into him like a Tazmanian devil with the broomstick. Broke his nose, broke out some teeth, and maybe cracked a rib before a deputy sheriff showed up and pulled her off of him. (Mrs. Max is a short, cute little blonde person; this guy was twice her size. She had him curled up on the ground, howling and whimpering and squealing obscenities. You would think the dog would have leapt to the defense of his master -- nope. He just sat on the ground and watched with great interest. The wife stood there yelling as well, but didn't intervene. Wonder if he beats her, too?)
Upshot: the deputy, whom we know, was quite understanding and gave the bloodied-up bastard two choices: assault charges against him (for coming at my wife in a threatening manner, forcing her to defend herself) and trespassing charges, or a citation for animal abuse and 24 hours to turn the dog over to the Humane Society. He cussed and blustered and took the second option. The cop had a little discussion with Mrs. Max about more appropriate ways to vent her spleen, Mrs. Max said, "Goddammit, anyone who beats a dog on my property is going to get his ass kicked, and you'll just have to arrest me," and the deputy left -- after saying, "That's a gorgeous dog. I might just go down and adopt the big fellow myself."
She told me about the whole incident after I got home, and said, "I'm just as glad you weren't here. You would have probably beaten him to death and broke both your hands in the process. Then we'd all be in jail."
So. Was she wrong?
::
Updated to include the most appropriately beautiful quote I've read on this thread. Thanks, Cedwyn.
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." -- Gandhi