Politicians and dog experts are criticizing South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem after she wrote in a new book about killing a rambunctious puppy. The story — and the vilification she received on social media — has some wondering whether she’s still a viable potential running mate for presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Experts who work with hunting dogs like Noem’s said she should have trained — not killed — the pup, or found other options if the dog was out of control.
Noem has tried to reframe the story from two decades ago as an example of her willingness to make tough decisions. She wrote on social media that the 14-month-old wirehaired pointer named Cricket had shown aggressive behavior by biting.
“As I explained in the book, it wasn’t easy,” she said on X. “But often the easy way isn’t the right way.”
Still, Democrats and even some conservatives have been critical.
So, I’ve got a theory. She killed her pup not because it upset her by scattering the birds she hunted, but because it embarrassed her in front of the neighbors when it killed their chickens. Cricket wouldn’t listen to her and it made her feel publicly ineffectual and weak. Being made to feel that way absolutely enraged her.
She’s a massive POS and I really hope this ends her career.
This was precisely my take. This was narcissistic rage and she can’t even see it.
I really hope this ends her career.
I don’t think it will. Conservatives are completely fine with killing dogs and cats at whim. The only reason they are backing off a bit here is because it was a puppy and they are having trouble making that look good. They will get over it quickly, though, as they don’t actually have anything against killing puppies.
This is all about appearing to take the high-road. In the future, when this is brought up, they will say she was a “strong leader” for doing what needed to be done. Defending her will be seen as a “bold stance” against the “woke PETA mob”.
Gives me some hope for the world that everyone hates dog killers
Even non-psychopaths who aren’t dog people. When I encounter a dog, any dog, I couldn’t be more uncomfortable. But I don’t find this sort of thing any less shocking than people who have and love dogs.
Conservatives don’t hate dog killers. They love to brag about killing things, including dogs and cats. It’s all just part of being a piece of shit conservative. But, the conservatives can sense that it looks bad to openly brag about killing a puppy. They just haven’t figured out a way to make it look good yet. So they are backing away from her for the moment.
But, mark my words… They will eventually circle back and reframe puppy-killing as “so brave and strong” for doing “what needed to be done”.
crazy take
These nut jobs are so disconnected from reality, thinking telling people a story about killing your own innocent dog will make you look tough.
That wasn’t exactly why, according to the article. This was, apparently, the shittiest attempt at damage control I’ve ever seen.
But South Dakota Democratic Senate Minority Leader Reynold Nesiba considered the disclosure more calculated than stupid. He said the story has circulated for years among lawmakers that Noem killed a dog in a “fit of anger” and that there were witnesses. He speculated that it was coming out now because Noem is being vetted as a candidate for vice president.
“She knew that this was a political vulnerability, and she needed to put it out there, before it came up in some other venue,” he said. “Why else would she write about it?”
She also writes about shooting a goat the family owned because it was mean to her kids.
She has basically no chance of being Trump’s VP now, but this is the level of quality he’s looking for in a candidate.
Bush’s VP shot a person in the face. So…
She basically has no chance of being Trump’s VP now…
Disagreed. This cements her as the front runner. She’s had the cosmetic surgery to give her that far-right plastic bimbo look, she’s cruel to animals and brags about it (Trump famously hates animals and pets), she’s a woman and someone who wont upstage him in the spotlight, she kisses his ass religiously, and she’s generating controversy to take away heat from whatever insane shit he’s doing this week. She’s the lock in. You think Trump gives a shit about traditional “electability?” It’s been clear since he started campaigning the second time that any and all guard rails that may have been there the first time around are gone. His entire platform is just cult of personality. There is no policy. He doesn’t care which traditional voter block she can attract/rebuff. She’ll be there to look pretty, back up everything he says, and not upstage him. Nothing else matters for him.
Nah, while he’ll be sympathetic, Trump has a crude grasp of the notion that his base likes dogs, same as his crude grasp of the notion that they like the Bible. He’ll move down the list and give her a political appointment if he wins.
His base likes dogs and also likes killing dogs.
I grew up in the south. I have heard countless stories about killlng dogs who don’t perform well on a hunt. This is how conservatives brag about how little empathy they have, because they see empathy as weakness. They use these stories to show that they are happy to kill anything for any reason. This kind of story is so common here that happily killing animals seems fundamental to being a conservative.
I assure you, his base is in no way offended by her story of killing a puppy.
Time to bring Sarah Palin out of retirement.
I don’t know if Trump wants her watching Russia from her house while he has secret meetings with Putin.
“I tried nothing, and I’m all out of ideas! *cocks gun*” - Kristi Noem
“As I explained in the book, it wasn’t easy,” she said on X. “But often the easy way isn’t the right way.”
Excuse me? You’re trying to convince me that training aggressive behavior out of a dog is the easy way and you chose the high road by killing it??
I don’t think you need to be a dog expert. Just have the ability to feel the tiniest amount empathy. This goes way too far for even a lot of Republicans.
What’s worse, is the story itself. She took the dog on a pheasant hunt for the day, cheering it on while it chased the pheasants and went for the kills. On the way home, she stopped at a friend’s house where the dog attacked their chickens. She then led the dog to a gravel pit and shot it in the head.
It thought it was being a good dog, doing exactly what she was training it to do. She addressed her mistake with murder.
Empathy is not a conservative trait.
Yup. Just more and more detail that Republicans have really fucked up morals.
The fact that this immoral dumbass is still trying to defend her complete lack of ability to train or control a dog, and trying to make it as “making hard choices” due to her own utter massive incompetence, is just telling about the mind set of what Republicans look to as moral guidance.
Millions of animals are killed less humanely every day for food. Why are people so worked up about this one?
edit: I guess it’s only ok to support the inhumane murder of animals if you don’t know them and want to eat them. I understand now.
It’s a man-bites-dog story, both figuratively and literally.
People being cruel to animals as part of the food chain? It’s a day that ends in “y”
A potential vice president of the United States killed a dog because she didn’t like it? That’s newsworthy.
It might focus attention on animal cruelty.
Side note: Joe Biden very clearly likes his dogs, and treats them perhaps a little too well. Donald Trump famously doesn’t have any pets, and uses euphemisms like “…like a dog” to invoke cruelty. Make of that what you will.
I like Joe Biden’s dogs and wish they’d bite more secret service members.
Your edit makes you sound like a pompous buffoon
I am a pompous buffoon, so that checks out.
You’d have a point if she was raising dogs for slaughter, but there’s an extra layer of sociopathy to kill a nonhuman member of your own family.
Oh look! More proof that most politicians are either psychopaths or idiots being controlled by a rich psychopath. Who the fuck would think a story about killing a nippy puppy would appeal to the common people jfc. I’ve owned MANY dogs both growing up and as an adult, if you aren’t ready to train a dog, especially a smart breed, don’t bother getting a dog. Go get a cat or a fish or some shit that can’t bite and kill someone.
The dog thing was horrible, But she also shot and killed a goat because it smelled.
Why did the goat smell?
Because she didn’t get it castrated.
She pretends to be a farmer with stories about killing dogs that can’t hunt and goats that smell weird, But an actual farmer would have had the goat castrated if they weren’t planning on breeding it and they absolutely would have just retrained the dog.
“Oh no she killed a dog unnecessarily!”
takes bite of cheeseburger
maybe people would be more ok with it if she ate the dog so their “sacrifice” didn’t “go to waste”?
or maybe it’s time to recognize that animals are morally relevant and we don’t need to eat them to be healthy, so it’s time to stop the unnecessary killing. Even if you don’t give a fuck about other animals (and by logical extension, are fine with this lady killing her dog), but care about the environment, it’s still time to stop
What is it about militant vegans and never being able to stay on topic?
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Someone who brings their veganism into every discussion.
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It sounds like it was easy. What’s she call her literal killing grounds, “the gravel pit”? No, ma’am, even though Wu is for the children, no child should be aware of your gravel pit.
That dog was too young from what she expected from it. Her reason does not hold up.
