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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.

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[–] Carvex@lemmy.world 124 points 6 months ago (1 children)

These nut jobs are so disconnected from reality, thinking telling people a story about killing your own innocent dog will make you look tough.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 96 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (3 children)

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.

[–] NovaPrime@lemmy.ml 25 points 6 months ago (2 children)

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.

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[–] tburkhol@lemmy.world 14 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Time to bring Sarah Palin out of retirement.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 30 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I don't know if Trump wants her watching Russia from her house while he has secret meetings with Putin.

[–] NOT_RICK@lemmy.world 14 points 6 months ago (2 children)

I prefer an actual quote from Palin to this apocryphal one. When Katie Couric asked her what newspapers she read to keep informed Palin said “All of them”

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 16 points 6 months ago

I mean she kind of said what Tina Fey parodied her saying, which was:

"When you're talking about what's going on at the border—the non-existent border," Palin said, "that reminds me how important it is, that all Alaskans realize it. Now Alaska is strategically located on the globe—as you know—you don't laugh about the fact that you can see Russia from Alaska, and Canada is right there on our other side."

You can see one Russian island sometimes from one island in Alaska.

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[–] jaybone@lemmy.world 6 points 6 months ago

Bush’s VP shot a person in the face. So…

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 67 points 6 months ago (2 children)

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.

[–] disguy_ovahea@lemmy.world 22 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

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.

[–] KAYDUBELL@lemm.ee 3 points 6 months ago

Goddamn, every time I get more info on this story it just gets worse. I can’t imagine killing an animal that wasn’t a danger or deserved a merciful death.

[–] Burn_The_Right@lemmy.world 3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Empathy is not a conservative trait.

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[–] zaph@sh.itjust.works 61 points 6 months ago

“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??

[–] rustydrd@sh.itjust.works 43 points 6 months ago

"I tried nothing, and I'm all out of ideas! *cocks gun*" - Kristi Noem

[–] inclementimmigrant@lemmy.world 40 points 6 months ago

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.

[–] FraidyBear@lemmy.world 36 points 6 months ago (2 children)

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.

[–] Chainweasel@lemmy.world 35 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

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.

[–] disguy_ovahea@lemmy.world 13 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Also, she didn’t just kill it. She tortured it. She shot it, and it didn’t die. She then walked over to her truck to get another round, walked back, and shot it again.

[–] Kalkaline@leminal.space 10 points 6 months ago (1 children)

It's like someone watched Ol' Yeller and completely missed the point that he got rabbies and that he was shot because he wasn't trained.

[–] disguy_ovahea@lemmy.world 11 points 6 months ago (1 children)

The dog did exactly what she trained it to do. She was training it to hunt pheasants and she shot it for attacking her friend’s chickens.

[–] Kalkaline@leminal.space 4 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I was talking about Ol' Yeller, but yeah that lady is just a bad dog owner.

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[–] Birdie@thelemmy.club 35 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (2 children)

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.

[–] Burn_The_Right@lemmy.world 4 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

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".

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[–] Nobody@lemmy.world 30 points 6 months ago

I'd hate to think what would have happened if her children had trouble with potty training.

"Some might think shooting a toddler is cruel, but 3-years-old is way too old to still be in diapers. Hard decisions had to be made, people."

[–] Spitzspot@lemmings.world 25 points 6 months ago

Cruelty is the point.

[–] JJROKCZ@lemmy.world 22 points 6 months ago (3 children)

Gives me some hope for the world that everyone hates dog killers

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[–] taanegl@lemmy.world 11 points 6 months ago

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.

[–] reagansrottencorpse@lemmy.ml 10 points 6 months ago

I hope someday she gets to experience the treatment she provided to the animals in her care.

[–] Vespair@lemm.ee 6 points 6 months ago (5 children)

So when politicians support tons of policies that harm, starve, and needlessly incarcerate millions of living American humans, no big deal, but if one fucking dog gets harmed suddenly we give a shit.

Cool. Our empathy for our fellow man definitely isn't broken at all.

[–] IrateAnteater@sh.itjust.works 32 points 6 months ago (1 children)

It's not hard to understand at all. There's a couple things at work here: first, humans are terrible at connecting emotionally to long term consequences. That's why a disaster that kills 100 people will always elicit a stronger reaction than a policy that will kill millions.

Another thing happening is how humans subconsciously justify things to themselves. An adult could have "deserved" whatever happened, but there's no way a puppy did.

I think it's dogs tickling the same parts of our brains as kids, which would go towards explaining the similar reactions.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 20 points 6 months ago

I think there's also the idea that many people have that dogs are loyal and loving no matter what and don't judge you, unlike all of those awful people out there who obviously deserve what's coming to them.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 13 points 6 months ago (3 children)

That's how it is. Like it or not, people care a hell of a lot more when a dog dies in a movie than when a person dies.

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[–] dustyData@lemmy.world 12 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

Inability to be empathetic and kind to animals is a psychopathic trait. People who don't want to and wouldn't hurt humans, wouldn't hurt animals either. But those who want to hurt humans will usually resort to hurting animals because they can get away with it more easily. (especial treatment for small mammals and pets as they are the emotionally closest to us)

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[–] Sidyctism@feddit.de 11 points 6 months ago

The point isnt human vs dog, its direct vs indirect action. People are a lot more disgusted by murderers than the person that put out the hit.

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[–] slurpeesoforion@startrek.website 5 points 6 months ago

Her füher would disapprove.

[–] HootinNHollerin@lemmy.world 4 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

That article definitely reads like written by a republiQan

[–] 21Cabbage@lemmynsfw.com 3 points 6 months ago

Even if I was heartless enough to kill my own dog I like to think I have the presence of mind to not brag about it afterwards.

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