Also, along those same lines, is your only consideration for the murder (not trying to use an incendiary word, just not sure how to phrase this more delicately)

Also, along those same lines, is your only consideration for the murder (not trying to use an incendiary word, just not sure how to phrase this more delicately) of an animal the distress it would cause others (animals/people)? So for example, if a dog's owners die, then just put down the dog? Or should euthanasia be viewed as the unsavory last resort due to an inability to care for the burgeoning population of dogs?