The dog's untimely death, however, was not the fault of the officers, who were simply performing one of their many duties: protecting wildlife. It was not Rowdy's fault. He was doing one of the things dogs do, when they are allowed to do it: stalking a winter-ravaged animal, intent on killing it.

The fault for Rowdy's death sadly rests at the door of his owner, a woman who, by all accounts, is feeling desperately bereft of her pet's company. For that loss she has our sympathy, but her grief does not absolve her of the responsibility she accepted when she took Rowdy home.

Dog owners must keep their pets under control at all times, for the sake of the pets and other animals and people they might encounter. When owners allow their dogs to roam free, habitually or even occasionally, they put the animals at risk - of injury from vehicles and from neighbors who may not appreciate unrestrained romps through their property, and, when the dog takes after a weakened deer, from law enforcement officers doing their jobs.

Dogs, for all their loyalty to their human owners and their appealing personalities when they're interacting with their own families, are, after all, animals. They are descended from fierce predators and can revert to predatory behavior when not restrained. Not only wildlife but humans have been injured and killed by beloved pet dogs on the loose.

The deputies who shot Rowdy deserve no reprimand. However, animal-control officers who did not assist the dog-owner's friends in retrieving the animal's body from a Dumpster should learn to be more sensitive. Losing a family pet in such a way is hard enough, without callous treatment from those paid to serve the public.

Rowdy's owner wants the Summit County government to change its policy on using deadly force against dogs that harass wild animals. We believe that would be a mistake.

There may be times when officers can stop a dog by some non-lethal means without putting themselves in danger, but the hard reality is that a dog violently attacking another animal doesn't deserve - and isn't apt to get - the benefit of the doubt.