Im going to have to go with the side of the driver here. Unless he drove into the dog owners fenced yard and hit the dog. Im not saying that he shouldnt have stopped and tried to find the owner, im saying its my opinion that the owner should have had his dog confined properly, according to the NYS leash law. How did the dog get in the roadway? Well im pretty sure that it got in the roadway because the "distraught" owner failed in his or her responsibility in keeping the dog leashed, or fenced.
§ 118. Violations
1. It shall be a violation, punishable as provided in subdivision two of this section, for:
(d) any owner or custodian of any dog to fail to confine, restrain or present such dog for any lawful purpose pursuant to this article;
You failed to confine your dog, if the driver is found and ticketed, the owner should be also.
FYI, here's the law I referenced.
§ 601. Leaving scene of injury to certain animals without reporting
Any person operating a motor vehicle which shall strike and injure any horse, dog, cat or animal classified as cattle shall stop and endeavor to locate the owner or custodian of such animal or a police, peace or judicial officer of the vicinity, and take any other reasonable and appropriate action so that the animal may have necessary attention, and shall also promptly report the matter to such owner, custodian or officer (or if no one of such has been located, then to a police officer of some other nearby community), exhibiting his or her license and insurance identification card for such vehicle, when such card is required pursuant to articles six and eight of this chapter, giving his or her name and residence, including street and street number, insurance carrier and insurance identification information and license number. Violation of this section shall be punishable by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars for a first offense and by a fine of not less than fifty nor more than one hundred fifty dollars for a second offense and each subsequent offense; provided, however where the animal that has been struck and injured is a guide dog, hearing dog or service dog, as such terms are defined in section forty-seven-b of the civil rights law which is actually engaged in aiding or guiding a person with a disability, a violation of this section shall be publishable [FN1] by a fine of not less than fifty nor more than one hundred fifty dollars for a first offense and by a fine of not less than one hundred fifty dollars nor more than three hundred dollars for a second offense and each subsequent offense.