Kristi Noem fondly recalls the day she killed her dog

[Santander]

There is nothing wrong with euthanizing a dog, especially one which has been violent with people. The fact that people care about this as much as they do shows how incredibly backward society's priorities are.

Sure, but if the dog attacked people, you would think she would write about it, no? It seems more like she wanted her poorly-trained dog out of her life, and instead of finding a competent dog trainer or a new home for it, she decided to personally shoot her own dog.

[Rat]

There is nothing wrong with euthanizing a dog, especially one which has been violent with people. The fact that people care about this as much as they do shows how incredibly backward society's priorities are.

Sure, but if the dog attacked people, you would think she would write about it, no? It seems more like she wanted her poorly-trained dog out of her life, and instead of finding a competent dog trainer or a new home for it, she decided to personally shoot her own dog.

If you read the quote from the book, she did write about it. It killed all of her neighbors chickens and then attacked her when she tried to stop it.

"On the way home, Cricket escaped Noem's truck and attacked a family's chickens, "grabb[ing] one chicken at a time, crunching it to death with one bite, then dropping it to attack another." This made the chickens' owner cry and Noem paid them while also helping clean the mess the dog had made. She added that when she grabbed Cricket, the dog "whipped around to bite me."

[Born to Slay. Forced to Work.]

There is nothing wrong with euthanizing a dog, especially one which has been violent with people. The fact that people care about this as much as they do shows how incredibly backward society's priorities are.

Sure, but if the dog attacked people, you would think she would write about it, no? It seems more like she wanted her poorly-trained dog out of her life, and instead of finding a competent dog trainer or a new home for it, she decided to personally shoot her own dog.

If you read the quote from the book, she did write about it. It killed all of her neighbors chickens and then attacked her when she tried to stop it.

"On the way home, Cricket escaped Noem's truck and attacked a family's chickens, "grabb[ing] one chicken at a time, crunching it to death with one bite, then dropping it to attack another." This made the chickens' owner cry and Noem paid them while also helping clean the mess the dog had made. She added that when she grabbed Cricket, the dog "whipped around to bite me."

It was a Wirehair pointer, a breed specifically bred to hunt,  and when you get a dog with a specific job bred into it and fail to train it they misbehave like that. Noem failed to train the dog, who was again just barely a year old, and instead of trying get it properly trained she killed it.

I know people who have spent literally thousands of dollars to train their hunting dogs. She had other options. She chose what was expedient not what was right.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

There is nothing wrong with euthanizing a dog, especially one which has been violent with people. The fact that people care about this as much as they do shows how incredibly backward society's priorities are.

Sure, but if the dog attacked people, you would think she would write about it, no? It seems more like she wanted her poorly-trained dog out of her life, and instead of finding a competent dog trainer or a new home for it, she decided to personally shoot her own dog.

From the Guardian article in the OP:

By taking Cricket on a pheasant hunt with older dogs, Noem says, she hoped to calm the young dog down and begin to teach her how to behave. Unfortunately, Cricket ruined the hunt, going “out of her mind with excitement, chasing all those birds and having the time of her life”.

Noem describes calling Cricket, then using an electronic collar to attempt to bring her under control. Nothing worked. Then, on the way home after the hunt, as Noem stopped to talk to a local family, Cricket escaped Noem’s truck and attacked the family’s chickens, “grabb[ing] one chicken at a time, crunching it to death with one bite, then dropping it to attack another”.

Cricket the untrainable dog, Noem writes, behaved like “a trained assassin”.

When Noem finally grabbed Cricket, she says, the dog “whipped around to bite me”. Then, as the chickens’ owner wept, Noem repeatedly apologised, wrote the shocked family a check “for the price they asked, and helped them dispose of the carcasses littering the scene of the crime”.

If you read the quote from the book, she did write about it. It killed all of her neighbors chickens and then attacked her when she tried to stop it.

Through it all, Noem says, Cricket was “the picture of pure joy”.

“I hated that dog,” Noem writes, adding that Cricket had proved herself “untrainable”, “dangerous to anyone she came in contact with” and “less than worthless … as a hunting dog”.

I cannot find the actual text, so I will likely have to wait until my library has it to check, but the above describes:

-taking a poorly trained dog on a hunt
-failing to control the dog on the hunt
-failing to control the dog after the hunt

The takeaway from which is Noem is unfit to own a hunting dog. And she doesn't realize that's what she's telling us, instead choosing to brag about her satisfaction at killing.

[Eraserhead]

Disgusting freak. Lock her up.

If Trump picks her this will make holding my nose and voting for Biden a little easier. Probably won't happen now though.

[CookieDamage]

Honestly I think this is one of those things where well-off Democrats and rural Republicans are on completely different pages and neither really grasps how hard the other side disagrees.

"well-off Democrats" and "rural Republicans" is not a binary lol

And no, I don't think the majority of rural Republicans think shooting your dog because you had no idea how to train it is okay

He wasn’t saying it was. He was merely contrasting two different groups that seem to be represented here and to have strongly contrasting views.

I suspect that most Republican voters living in a rural area (below some threshold of density) think it is okay to put down a dog that bites you and attacks your neighbors chickens.

Exactly. I don't personally condone Noem's actions, but this idea that white hipster New Yorkers (and lots of other people, to be sure) have that dogs are part of the family like just as much as people is not as common of an attitude in the red states. I don't think that most people who are voting for Trump are going to see her as a "murderer" or find this disqualifying to her political career.

The fact that she did it herself is a little jarring. There's a plethora of vets and animal shelters that will put down a pet humanely for any reason (or maybe there's not in the blue states, I don't know, but there definitely are in the red states), much less one that is biting and present a hint of danger to humans - in fact, a vet or shelter would probably urge the owner to euthanize in that case. Also it's a bit jarring how flippant she is about it, rather than sad and disappointed. But neither of those jarring things is going to matter to most people who would like the idea of her being Trump's VP. (And let's get real, the rest will fall in line anyway the day Trump picked her.)

Edit to say that I just don't see this as a huge, shocking, career-affecting story that a lot of people online seem to think it is (and I don't mean Twitter bots, but legitimate journalists and TalkElections posters I respect). I don't know if it's a red state/blue state thing or something else entirely, but this just seems like something that happens to families from time to time, a pet turning out to be dangerous and having to be euthanized for everyone's safety. Noem is awfully cavalier about it, and who knows if the dog was truly as dangerous as she says, but this story just isn't packing that "OMG can you believe this shocking, out-of-the-ordinary scandal!" punch to me.

I feel like you're an another planet or possibly sociopathic. Everyone is disgusted at this, Democrat and Republican, urban and rural, alike. She literally murdered a puppy in a gravel pit when she could have done 1000 other things instead.

Also, your framing this as a weird "coastal elite liberals are triggered" is absolutely bizarre since like 99% of America adores dogs and treats them as members of their family. There is a wide consensus amongst pretty much every American that this was a sick and freakish thing to do.

[Ashley Biden's Diary]

Honestly I think this is one of those things where well-off Democrats and rural Republicans are on completely different pages and neither really grasps how hard the other side disagrees.

Even most rural Republicans would probably balk at killing an untrained young dog. Letting it die outside chained up they’d be fine with, but most people wouldn’t do that in this situation.

False. This isn't 50 years ago, most rural dog owners regardless of political affiliation love their dogs and would be disgusted at the idea of killing one in either manner.

[CookieDamage]

Honestly I think this is one of those things where well-off Democrats and rural Republicans are on completely different pages and neither really grasps how hard the other side disagrees.

Even most rural Republicans would probably balk at killing an untrained young dog. Letting it die outside chained up they’d be fine with, but most people wouldn’t do that in this situation.

False. This isn't 50 years ago, most rural dog owners regardless of political affiliation love their dogs and would be disgusted at the the idea of killing one in either manner.

Agreed. The cultural idea that dogs are merely property is very much dead. There are many more options nowadays to re-home or foster dogs and most people are aware of that.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Any dog will go for chickens if they can, that is not a sign that they're dangerous, though the incident may be an indicator of other things liable to reflect poorly on the owner of the dog and, perhaps, the chickens.

[7,052,770]

I feel like you're an another planet or possibly sociopathic. Everyone is disgusted at this, Democrat and Republican, urban and rural, alike. She literally murdered a puppy in a gravel pit when she could have done 1000 other things instead.

Also, your framing this as a weird "coastal elite liberals are triggered" is absolutely bizarre since like 99% of America adores dogs and treats them as members of their family. There is a wide consensus amongst pretty much every American that this was a sick and freakish thing to do.

I think you might be surprised at how millions of other Americans think. No need to insult the messenger. As I clearly said, I don't agree with Noem's actions myself.

[I Will Not Be Wrong]

I'm sure this story will improve the Republicans image in the suburbia. 🙄

[CookieDamage]

I feel like you're an another planet or possibly sociopathic. Everyone is disgusted at this, Democrat and Republican, urban and rural, alike. She literally murdered a puppy in a gravel pit when she could have done 1000 other things instead.

Also, your framing this as a weird "coastal elite liberals are triggered" is absolutely bizarre since like 99% of America adores dogs and treats them as members of their family. There is a wide consensus amongst pretty much every American that this was a sick and freakish thing to do.

I think you might be surprised at how millions of other Americans think. No need to insult the messenger. As I clearly said, I don't agree with Noem's actions myself.

I wasn't aware you were a messenger for the "other" America. Anyways it doesn't take a genius to realize that 99% of Americans do infact adore dogs. It's literally the one thing that unites most Americans as well as the outrage towards abuse of dogs.

[CookieDamage]

Liberals: Kristi Noem is awful
Conservatives: Kristie Noem is awful
Harry: Careful coastal libs, you don't know what you're talking about about.

[Frodo]

Everyone, remember her face:



If she comes through your neighborhood, keep your dogs well away from her and out of sight for their own safety. 

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Via mastodon:

[Green Line]

I guess the chickens’ lives mean nothing to any of you.  What the dog did to them is evil.

[politicallefty]

There is nothing wrong with euthanizing a dog, especially one which has been violent with people.

There's a lot wrong if there isn't a very good reason. I also wouldn't say taking a dog and shooting it in a gravel pit qualifies as euthanasia.

My grandparents had a dog they started getting worried about. He started getting more and more aggressive. There were a number of small things that happened until he finally bit my grandpa's hand (and not in a playful way). My grandparents' dogs have always been part of the family and nothing like that had ever happened. In that case, I think they had to report it to the state, but nothing was required beyond that. However, they were nervous that he could attack someone else, particularly a child. In the end, they opted for euthanasia. They were still devastated.

I only mention this because I think some people are conflating other issues here. Most people understand that there are times when euthanasia should be used (outside of end-of-life issues). I see nothing in the Governor's story that leads me to believe what she did was even remotely necessary. So, yeah, she sounds like a monster.

[Aurelius2]

She's really been aiming for ATF director all along.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Least surprising news of the day.

https://twitter.com/RawStory/status/1784004983383318942

[Bernie Derangement Syndrome Haver]

I really hope Trump picks her as VP - I would love to see the "Kristi Noem: Puppy Killer" attack ads.

[John Dule]

[President of the great nation of 🏳️‍⚧️]

I really hope Trump picks her as VP - I would love to see the "Kristi Noem: Puppy Killer" attack ads.

[Santander]

I feel like you're an another planet or possibly sociopathic. Everyone is disgusted at this, Democrat and Republican, urban and rural, alike. She literally murdered a puppy in a gravel pit when she could have done 1000 other things instead.

Also, your framing this as a weird "coastal elite liberals are triggered" is absolutely bizarre since like 99% of America adores dogs and treats them as members of their family. There is a wide consensus amongst pretty much every American that this was a sick and freakish thing to do.

I think you might be surprised at how millions of other Americans think. No need to insult the messenger. As I clearly said, I don't agree with Noem's actions myself.

I wasn't aware you were a messenger for the "other" America. Anyways it doesn't take a genius to realize that 99% of Americans do infact adore dogs. It's literally the one thing that unites most Americans as well as the outrage towards abuse of dogs.

Most people who don't own dogs are actually rather indifferent. You don't have to "adore" an animal to think you can't just throw them away.

[DrScholl]

The people putting up a defense for her are partisans or ideologues. I wouldn't have been ok with this had a Democrat said it because it's super disturbing to boast about killing animals. It's not tough and it's not cool, it is callous.

[South Dakota Democrat]

There is nothing wrong with euthanizing a dog, especially one which has been violent with people. The fact that people care about this as much as they do shows how incredibly backward society's priorities are.

That's a dumb take.