I have spent a career working with Police Officers and dogs. Police Officers tend to overreact to dogs acting aggressively. Police Officers seem to have some notion of self-preservation. Unlike Animal Control Officers, Police Officers don’t get a lot of practice in being attacked by dogs. As such, they perceive a doggy threat much higher than an Animal Control Officer would.
Police Officers work with a continuum of threat assessment, but that assessment protocol doesn’t work well with animals. In a perfect world, an officer might first consider a nonlethal means of handling dogs. They have little or no experience in testing pepper spray or a taser on dogs, so it makes sense that their gun might be the first tool they grab. They know, from experience, that their gun is an effective tool.
In that same perfect world, dog owners would be smart enough to reel their dog in (or even place it on a leash) when an officer approaches. Dogs die because officers don’t want to be bitten. Dogs die due to stupid owners.
If I were to make the world a better place, I would let the officer take a small bite and then sue the owner for a million dollars. The dog would live, and the officer could take a nice fishing trip. And, who knows, maybe the owner learns something in the process. I know, that’s a long shot.