Former President Donald Trump greets South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem at a rally hosted by the South Dakota Republican Party on Sept. eight in Rapid City, S.D.
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Former President Donald Trump greets South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem at a rally hosted by the South Dakota Republican Party on Sept. eight in Rapid City, S.D.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
Kristi Noem, a contender for Donald Trump’s vice presidential working mate, defended herself after her story saying she had killed a dog on her farm drew condemnation from Democrats and animal rights teams.
In her forthcoming memoir, the South Dakota governor describes killing an “untrainable” household dog after a looking journey, reported The Guardian, which stated it obtained a duplicate of the guide, No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward.
Noem stated “Cricket,” a 14-month-old wirehaired pointer, was a feminine with an “aggressive personality,” in accordance to The Guardian.
During a pheasant-hunting journey, the dog went “out of her mind with excitement,” and later attacked one other household’s chickens. And when she went to seize Cricket, Noem says, the dog bit her.
“I hated that dog,” Noem wrote within the excerpt. The dog was “dangerous to anyone she came in contact with” and “less than worthless” as a looking dog.
“I realized I had to put her down,” she wrote. The newspaper didn’t say when Noem stated the incident occurred.
According to The Guardian, Noem stated she included the grisly story to display her readiness in politics to do what wants to be executed, even when it is “difficult, messy and ugly.”
Animal welfare organizations decried Noem for killing the dog.
Wayne Pacelle, the president of Animal Wellness Action, stated: “There’s no rational and plausible excuse for Noem shooting a juvenile dog for normal puppy-like behavior.”
“Raising and caring for a dog takes patience and kindness,” he stated in an announcement. “Tens of millions of Americans who know and love dogs have to wonder about a person who expresses hatred for a young female dog and kills her.”
Colleen O’Brien, senior vice chairman at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), denounced the governor for “letting this rambunctious puppy loose on chickens and then punishing her by deciding to personally blow her brains out rather than attempting to train her or find a more responsible guardian.”
Democrats additionally slammed Noem, whereas holding it up for example of how “extreme and dangerous” Trump and his allies are.
In an announcement shared with The Hill, the Democratic National Committee stated: “If you want elected officials who don’t brag about brutally killing their pets as part of their self-promotional book tour, then listen to our owners — and vote Democrat.”
On Friday, Noem defended her determination to put down the dog.
“We love animals, but tough decisions like this happen all the time on a farm,” she wrote in a post on X. “Sadly, we just had to put down 3 horses a few weeks ago that had been in our family for 25 years.”