There is NO SITUATION where the animal is "better off" for having been savagely beaten, and that is a point which can be proven quite easily, though it is extremely painful for the student when thoroughly demonstrated.
;-/
Insert the word 'savagely' and of course you are right. I just know that punishment often looks ugly to a spectator, and I can understand the anger and fear that would cause a man to be very hard on a dog that had been runnin' wild through traffic. I know it isn't the best way, which is why we have been discussing better ways.
My dog had a pretty high threshold for making a behavior 'not worthwhile' any more. Few of the times I had to drop and thump my 'poor' labrador did I have witnesses or I might have been convicted too, even though I am a chick, and assumably less capable of real harm. But I was the best thing for that dog for 16 years, and we did great things together, once we figured each other out.
I had another dog who would be emotionally crushed for the day if I so much as raised my voice harshly. No one would have beat her or they should be shot. If I had only ever owned dogs like her I would agree. But they aren't the same, and absent injuries to the dog, I don't want to imprison people who just needed a little advice on better dog training.