[user104658]

Originally Posted by Ammi

..I would say that holding the head of a struggling dog or any living thing under water while they are gasping to breathe is a fairly torturous thing...and the cutting of the dog's neck open..the back of her neck..?..I don't think was 'media effect' but what his own words were in his statement ...

The word torture implies an intent to cause suffering or pain rather than an intent to kill. I'm also far form convinced that people don't know that they're being deliberately emotive when they choose to say "cut the dog open" rather than "cut out the microchip".

I'll overlook that you didn't mention Kirk specifically stating "disembowelled" because, to be fair, his imagery of some sort of carefully prepared execution just deserves to be overlooked.