[xzins]

Stropkai tells KTVB she let Kita outside to use the bathroom and she was in her sight when the officer made an instant decision.

Kita began running toward them

The responsible party is the lady owner. Obviously, the dog was not in its own yard behind a fence. The lady was letting her dog run loose. It caused trouble at the wrong time and place and it ended up dead.

This should be no more surprising than a dog allowed to run loose getting hit by a car.

[Joe 6-pack]

"The responsible party is the lady owner."

I think there's plenty of culpability to go around. Certainly the owner is not without blame...but in a sane world, leash law violations are enforced with a ticket, not a hail of gunfire.