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Whyte, I would think the law was refering to the use of deadly force against a human in that regard. I am sure you have the right to shoot a wild animal in North Carolina if it is atacking your livestock.? I would see no difference when it comes to a pet. Its property, and if it is being attacked and is in immediate danger of being killed I am sure you would have the right to protect that property with the use of deadly force against another animal; wether it be domestic or wild.
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You may be right. However, none of the materials I got from my CCW class covers attacks by animals, so I can't give you a legally valid answer. Quite bluntly, I haven't considered the question before this thread because my dog is a 90-pound German Shepherd that gets 30 minutes of hard exercise three days per week and is now solid muscle. I call her a cement duffel bag with legs. Very few dogs are willing to let her approach them; fewer approach her, so I've had no problems yet.
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I suppose I can only respond by saying an angry animal with knashing teeth can easily put me in fear of "serious bodily injury." That qualifies me to shoot if I feel it necessary. I will not wait for the actual bite - ever.
To rely on spray or a stick to stop the situation is, IMO, naive.
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I can't fault your reasoning, and if I ever pulled a gun on an aggressive dog, I would clearly state that I (not my dog) felt threatened by it. If I felt I could get off a good shot without undue risk to others or to my dog, I'd do it. I might have to wait until an opportunity presented itself, meaning my dog would suffer some damage, but at least that damage would not come from me, nor would I accidentally damage any innocent people.
Actually, in my situation, that would be my only option, as my dog is sufficiently large enough that I don't bring a walking stick along. But the question was related to the poster's situation, not mine. When I had a smaller dog--a dachshund--and felt my environment warranted it, I brought along the walking stick. I spent about 18 months studying escrima and bo staff, so I'm adequately skilled with sticks.
It's all about compromises and which compromises you're willing to make. If I could, I'd rather carry a carbine rifle. That option doesn't exist, so I carry a pistol. Sometimes, it's a .45 Commander; othertimes, it's a Bersa T380. It all depends on the situation and what compromises I feel I need to make to best fit the situation.
NOTE ADDED: I'd be reluctant to shoot a dog that is bigger than mine and dominating over it for fear that the bullet would pass through the aggressor and into my dog. I'd also be more reluctant to use a stick on a rottweiler than on a doberman. From my limited experience with rotties and dobies, I believe that snapping the spine of a rottie would be significantly more difficult than that of a dobie. I could be wrong in that, but the more heavily built rotties seem less vulnerable to that kind of strike. With a rottie, you may not have much choice other than a gun. So I'd have to say the kind of attacking dog is another factor, which means there may not be any single best answer to the scenario.