Reminds me of the rabbi whose congregation complained about his many vices, saying that he’s supposed to be better, he’s supposed to show them the way. So he brought them to the edge of the town and showed them a direction sign.
“Does it show you the way? It does. And do you want it to go anywhere?”
That still relies on building up the relationship Peter has with his uncle and showing him to be a good soul so you’d feel the death. The genius of using a puppy is that you don’t have to spend almost time explaining the relationship. It’s a puppy. Of course he’s gonna go murder everyone now.