DS: Do you think people are getting too "soft" when it comes to dogs?

I've noticed very recently that more and more people shout abuse over the littlest of things. Now prongs are abuse, scolding your dog is abuse, leaving your dog outside for any amount of time is abuse. Don't get me wrong I would never scream in my dogs face and leave them outside but it seems like people are making things seem harsher than they are. I can't count how many times I have been told prongs are abuse which I used on my German Shepherd. Now I don't need one and he walks perfectly off leash because of it. Then there are the people who yell "bad dog" in public and some people want to assume they also beat the dog. It seems like more and more people are believing in "positive reinforcement" only now. Shoving a piece of chicken in a stranger aggressive dog isn't always going to train it. Why do you think anything but PR is being frowned on more and more lately? What do you consider dog abuse?