Had a buddy that was having problems with a neighbor's dog, one day he peppered it with rock salt and then called the neighbor and told him to come over and get the dog.
He told us about it the day it happened. A couple of days later he told us that the neighbor had taken the dog to the vet to be treated for the injuries and then called the shooter and told him that if he paid the vet bills they'd call it square. My buddy used a couple of choice words in his response that related to where the neighbor could place the bill for safe keeping'
My advice to him at that point was to pay the bill, by the guy dinner and wash his car as he'd set himself up for very large problems. He basically told me to do the same with my advice that he'd told the neighbor to do with the bill.
Long story short it cost the shooter about $25k to stay out of jail on felony animal cruelty charges since he openly admitted he wasn't trying to kill the dog, only hurt it.
YMMV.
around here, they are trying to trap them, neuter/spay and then release them. i'm not sure how well it will work, but it makes some people feel less bad about trapping them and turning them in.I'll agree with the stupid idiots part. Would it have been better for them to turn them over to animal control to be killed? That's what happens with feral cats around me.