One sequence in particular that displays the power and emotional range of Dale in the role, comes at the end of the film when he is left as the only man willing to
bury his dead brother at the funeral of Kennedy's killer.
In the end, the most plausible explanation as to why the dogs were destroyed has to be for the purpose of avoiding criminal charges. Clearly, the dogs could not be turned over to a shelter or rescue for fear of a criminal prosecution and their years as farmers gave the Zimmerman
brothers the knowledge that through the process of natural decomposition it would indeed be difficult to ascertain the physical condition of the dogs on the day of the inspection once they had been
dead and
buried for several days.