Legally right?

Before you say anything, this is not my situation. It's a friend of mines friend. Just wanted your opinion. My question is strictly LEGALLY!! Not what you would or wouldn't do or how you would feel. Just the legal aspect.

Do you think it's legally right that when a spouse, in this case wife, is caught hitting/abusing an animal such as a cat, that the other spouse, husband in this case, has a legal right to threaten to or "kick the shit out of the other spouse", wife in this case.