Putting an animal under for no health reason....

My mother and step father have 4 big dogs of various breeds. They are all great dogs but they weren't raised with proper rule discipline so they can be highly obnoxious in each of their own ways. My parents relationship is quite rocky right now and might not last. I've heard both of them state this, and it concerns me greatly. If they break up and go their separate ways my mother has stated she is taking at least one of the dogs, the youngest Quincy but she's not sure if she will be able to afford to take one of the others or not. My step father would most likely will take Hogan and Sadie with him. However my mother and step father have stated that if my mother doesn't actually take the dog Cooper (austrailian cattle dog) that they will take him down to the vet and have him put under! He is a very good dog in the sense that once he gets to know you, he loves you to death and he is highly intelligent. However he is the most obnoxious of the dogs we have he barks a lot as he is spoiled and demands his way of things and his very protective of his household pack and he very well could attack a stranger if they barge into the house or yard. He isn't a violent dog he is just being protective, its in his breeds nature and it doesn't take him long to integrate with people, just a few hours of some cookies, some petting, some belly rubbing that sort of thing to get him to see the person is a friend. Not to mention he does listen to commands when you are in serious situations.

The dog drives me batty due to his bad training, (barking and such) but I think that is very wrong. You don't just put a dog down because you don't want to or can't take care of them anymore. You put an animal down because they are dying/suffering or they are vicious and cruel. I'm not sure what I could do if that situation occurs, I'm not sure if there is any legal action I could take to stop/prevent them from putting him down needlessly if said event occurs. It angers me, it's not my dog but it's just wrong to me. "I don't want you anymore so now I'm going to have you killed."

so why don't you take him? or put an ad in a paper or something... i'm sure there's some family with a large yard that wouldn't mind taking him in...

Personally I'm not a dog person, I like all animals but having dogs around as pets drive me nuts as just their general behavior. I'm not sure what kind of living residence I will have when I get back out on my own again, I might not have any room for such an animal.

The problem is I can't put an ad out giving away/selling a dog that isn't my own. I've suggested that to my mother about finding him a good family, but she freaks out about not trusting anyone thinking that they will just mistreat him/beat him or something so she thinks putting him down is better. That's why I wonder if there is any legal action I could take if this situation arises that would force them to find him a home over killing him. At the very least turning him over to the pound would give him a few days to find a home. It's just a weird situation as the dog is not mine, therefore I have no say so in the matter.

Yeah, I think that's messed up. All animals deserve life they're living, and because they assumed responsibility doesn't give them the right to "put them to sleep." You are killing the animal because you refuse to put the work in to continue to let him live. There's adoption agencies out there to hook them up with lovin' families.