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Relax there. You have to understand that people make assumptions based on what you write and what you don't write. All that was said is that there exists the possibility that the event might have been preventable. It's a possibility, not a guarantee. You're saying that you were driving under the limit. Still, unless you explicitly state that it was unavoidable, there exists the possibility that it was avoidable. Nobody is accusing you of anything though.
Also, like I said, people are going to judge you based on your words. To be honest, for a second I also questioned the language which you used to describe hitting the dog. But then I considered that nobody in their right mind would do that. Given the title of the thread and a few of your comments, I quickly dismissed that it was just an odd description.
The dog owner is responsible for this, but it does happen. I would try contacting him again. You can mask your intent by inquiring as to the dog's well-being and then present the amount of damages to the car. If he's reasonable, he might agree to pay half. I suppose it all depends on the cost of damage to the car. Another question is whose insurance is covering this - your brother's, or yours? It might be a bit unfair to have it covered by your brother's insurance because they might raise his premium heftily over this.
The situation really stinks. Still, don't feel bad about doing the right thing, it's not like handling the situation wrongly would have saved you any cash.
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