Strange dog episode

In Georgia we lived next door to a terrific family, the Wetheringtons. The dad, Phil, was around my dad's age--at that time he was a captain in the Air Force--and they had four kids around my age and my sister's age. Our families got together frequently for cookouts, pizza nights, camping trips, and so on. Once an old dog, some sort of big Lab or Golden, wandered into the odd ravine between our yards and lay down to die. We kids brought it food and water, but it knew what it was there for and ignored us. Our folks were concerned, so they called people in the neighborhood to try to find out whose dog it was, but had no luck. So after a day or two my dad and Phil quietly shot the dog (they must have done it when we were at school or asleep, because I don't remember the sound of the shot) with Phil's Air Force sidearm. Then they buried it in the woods behind our houses. Two weeks later, a family arrived looking for the dog, and Phil told them that he was sorry; they'd tried to find the owners but had had to put the dog down. And the family dug that dog up and took it home with them. This says a lot about dog owners or central Georgia, or both.