Republican South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem is responding to backlash
after revealing in her upcoming memoir that she killed her
dog,
named Cricket, and a goat on her ranch 20 years
ago.
The Guardian first reported the incident in Gnome's book titled
No Going Back,
The Truth on What's Wrong with Politics and How We
Move America Forward,
saying they obtained a copy.
According to the report. Gnome writes in her book that
Cricket was a female wirehaired pointer about 14 months old.
And had an aggressive personality.
Gnome was training Cricket for pheasant hunting,
Gnome writes. She had taken Cricket out for a pheasant
hunt and was hoping to calm down the puppy,
but that Cricket was out of her mind with excitement,
chasing all those birds and having the time of her
life on the way home from the hunt.
Gnome writes that she had stopped to speak with a
local family when Cricket escaped the car and attacked the
family's chickens.
Like a trained assassin, Gnome says she attempted to stop
Cricket from eating the chickens when she grabbed her and
that Cricket whipped around to bite her.
I hated that dog Gnome,
right? Saying cricket was dangerous to anyone she came in
contact with and untrainable.
At that moment, I realized I had to put her
down,
The governor writes about how she LED Cricket to a
gravel pit and shot her.
It was not a pleasant job,
but it had to be done,
Gnome said. The governor then writes about how she put
down a family goat,
which she described as nasty and mean,
and had a habit of chasing her children and knocking
them down.
Gnome, who has been floated as a possible pick for
former President Donald Trump's vice president.
Received pushback from both Republicans and Democrats over the admitted
killings,
the Democratic National Committee released a statement in the voice
of pets owned by Democrats saying in part.
Our message is plain and simple.
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,
far right Trump supporter Laura Loomer posted to X.
She can't be VP now You can't shoot your dog
and then BVP.
Gnome took 2X to defend herself,
saying in part I can understand why some people are
upset about a 20 year old story of Cricket,
one of the working dogs at our ranch.
The fact is, South Dakota law states that dogs who
attack and kill livestock can be put down.
Given that cricket had shown aggressive behavior toward people by
biting them,
I decided what I did.
Whether running the ranch or in politics,
I have never passed on my responsibilities to anyone else
to handle.
Even if it's hard and painful,
I follow the law and was being a responsible parent,
dog owner and neighbor.