He didnt just wash his hands of his animals, ( and knowing how he is with his dogs it would have been an extremely hard decision ) he made the decision to move them to somewhere he felt was better. It wasnt a spur of the moment decision. He had everything set up correctly, but i just dont see how he can control a young member of the family the dogs were staying at leaving the gate open so the dog could escape. I think its tough to have a pop at him for that. If he didnt attempt to do anything at all, he would be criticised for that as well.
At the end of the day, if people want to blame him, they will blame him. Nothing is going to change that. I think personally he would cop it no matter what he did.