South Dakota Republican Governor Kristi Noem just gifted Democrats a golden opportunity with her jaw-dropping admission in her upcoming book “No Going Back” which will be released May 7th.
In a move that could only be described as shooting herself in the foot (and tragically, her dog), Noem recounts the time she decided her 14-month-old dog Cricket was more expendable than a chew toy and took it out to the gravel pit for a permanent dirt nap. Oh, and she threw in a goat for good measure.
Noem shoots dog after bad behavior.
Yes, instead of rehoming a dog that didn’t suit her needs or taking it to an animal shelter, Cricket got shot for being what Noem called “less than worthless” and “untrainable” after chasing birds, killing chickens and trying to bite her.
If Mitt Romney’s misadventure of putting his Irish Setter Seamus in a crate on top of his car for 12 hours expedited the end of his presidential hopes, this will surely do that and more for Noem.
The farm life isn’t a life most people understand.
Most people who will read Noem’s book don’t understand the farm life and that the occasional animal has to be killed for various reasons. However, although the readers might be okay with Noem killing a goat or a cow or even a horse, most folks will get a little miffed if the animal being shot and killed turns out to be a domestic cat or dog.
However, also not understood by most people are the laws that govern dogs and livestock in certain parts of the country.
Even in Michigan, if a dog attacks livestock, It can be killed by an individual or a law enforcement officer.
In Michigan, dogs can be killed for going after livestock.
Yes, in Michigan, the law clearly states, “Any person including a law enforcement officer may kill any dog which he sees in the act of pursuing, worrying, or wounding any livestock or poultry or attacking persons, and there shall be no liability on such person in damages or otherwise, for such killing.”
That law exists because most of the state’s animal laws are defined under the antiquated Dog Law of 1919 when livestock was more important than domestic pets.
And even though the Democrats in the state have have been overturning and upgrading legislation right and left lately, they haven’t set a finger on the Dog Law of 1919 for some reason.
It looks like South Dakota has the same kind of law from the 1930s.
Why would a politician talk about killing a dog?
Although Noem might have thought she had good reasons to shoot her dog, I’m still not exactly sure why she thought it was a good idea to include the story in her book.
It could be that she is so used to living in a totally different world that she doesn’t understand how what she did could have a huge adverse effect on your average American citizen who is not used to her kind of lifestyle. And if her intention was to show everyone that she can do difficult things when necessary, that certainly hasn’t been the take-away.
Democrats pounce.
And of course, Democrats wasted no time pouncing on the story like a pack of hungry wolves. Michigan’s Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer couldn’t resist sharing a photo [1] with her dogs on X saying, “Post a picture with your dog that doesn’t involve shooting them and throwing them in a gravel pit.”
The Democrat Party said about the incident, ”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.”
So now it looks like Noem will NOT be President Trump’s VP pick even if she was on his short list – and she might have just punched her own ticket out of any future White House invitations at all.
Even Trump ally Laura Loomer figured things out pretty quick posting on X, “She can’t be VP now. You can’t shoot your dog and then be VP.”
Noem’s attempt at tough farm talk only made her sound more like a heartless character from a bad B-movie and any future story about her from now through eternity will include the dog killing incident.