Well, first of all, I absolutely do not think it's "abusive" to feed meals, rather than free-feed, a dog (same goes for children - I'm not running a 24/7 all you can eat buffet in my house!)
That being said, I am very much a proponent of feeding scheduled meals to dogs for a variety of reasons:
#1 - If the human's version of 'free feeding' means "keep the dog's bowl full at all times", then obesity is a definite consideration. In a multi-dog household... how can you be *absolutely certain* who eats what & when? Going off their food is one of the earliest signs of general 'not feeling good'.
#2 - If the human's version means "measure out a daily portion of food & put that out every 24 hours" then, it depends... if there is only ONE dog in the home, this could be OK. More than one dog? No. Again, how do you know, for certain, who's eating what/how much & how often? Can't answer for sure? Not good.
So, what if you have multiple dogs, who don't guard or over indulge in the constantly full bowl? Is there a problem? Yeah, there just might be. In my household, not all dogs can be on the same diet - and this wasn't always the case. Dietary needs have changes as the resident dogs have aged. I have one in early stages of kidney disease, so she needs to eat a lower phosphate kibble than the other two. I have one that needs a daily probiotic added to her morning meal. All three dogs get fish oil/supplements/toppers on a daily basis. None of this can be done if I just put out a general bowl of kibble for everyone each day.
So, the long & short of it is - while piling a bowl full of generic food each day & letting the dogs decide when/if they're hungry might work *today*... having the dogs accustomed to eating set & scheduled meals is a much better (IMO) long term situation.