In her defence, some people, such as my great uncle (now passed away), have no choice but to drown puppies because they can't find people to take care of them, and he can't afford them. So he drowned them in a bucket.
However, throwing puppies into a river is over the top and should not be done like this. That's a public area, whilst drowning them in a bucket for a good reason in a private area is socially acceptable.