An old couple dragging their dog by the leash from inside the car grabs hot criticism

For all you animal lovers out there, get ready to get mad.  Like Hulk mad!

A recent incident is grabbing hot attention from the public in a negative way as an old couple in their 70s was seen dragging their dog by the leash from inside the car while the dog trotted along to keep up outside. 

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This was seen at a street in Taejang-dong, Wonju-si, Gangwon-do.  The incident was reported to the police, who got ahold of the old couple in the car.  During the investigation, the couple explained, "The dog got a severe skin disease, so we were on the way to the vet.  The dog was trying not to get in the car, so we left the dog outside because we had no choice."

Do you think this was reasonable?  Netizens are not buying this excuse, claiming that this was animal abuse.  

However, the police responded with, "The elderly couple had ahold of the leash and were driving slowly, so we do not view this as willful abuse.  We are discussing whether we could acknowledge this as abuse."

The dog looks uncomfortable to me, and things could have gotten very dangerous very fast... What is your stance on this?