A California meterman kills a Toy Poodle - Could this be justified?

It is a very interesting story - http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2010/04/23/meter-man%E2%80%99s-killing-of-poodle-justified/

The gas meter-man claims he felt threatened by a 6 lbs Toy poodle - enough that he struck the dog so hard it broke all of the dogs face bones and had to be euthanized.