Following widespread criticism, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem called how the media portrayed her killing her dog "fake news" during an interview this week. While she didn't dispute the fact that she killed the dog, she described journalists as using the story to vilify her. In the interview, Noem argued that media outlets left out "some or most of the facts" about how and why she did it and then put "the worst spin on it."
"The truth of this story is this was a working dog and it was not a puppy. It was a dog that was extremely dangerous. It had come to us from a family that found her way too aggressive. We were her second chance. And the day she was put down was the day that she massacred livestock that were part of our neighbor's, she attacked me, and it was a hard decision," Noem said, adding that it was a choice between keeping a "dangerous animal" or keeping her children and other people safe.
Don't believe the #fakenews media's twisted spin. I had a choice between the safety of my children and an animal who had a history of attacking people & killing livestock.
I chose my kids. pic.twitter.com/ZTtN7MpQvf
— Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) May 2, 2024
Noem shared the story in her upcoming book "No Going Back" and framed it as making a tough decision, but the details were revealed in a book review by The Guardian. According to the review, Noem killed the dog after it proved to be "less than worthless" as a hunting dog because it was excited and chased birds. Then, she brought it to a neighbor's house, where it killed some chickens and tried to bite her. In the book, Noem wrote "I hated that dog" and at that moment decided to kill it in a gravel pit (along with a goat that she described as "nasty and mean" and smelled bad).
However, dog experts and critics across the political spectrum cling to the fact that Noem's dog was 14 months old and bred to be a hunting dog, so it had not yet met full maturity and it takes multiple years to train bird-hunting dogs. Instead of investing the time and effort into training it or pursuing a more humane option, critics say she took the easy way and killed it.
According to reports, Noem was on the shortlist to be named as the Republican vice presidential candidate until news broke about the dog killing. Allies of former President Trump, Donald Trump, Jr. and Steve Bannon, described the incident as "a little too based" — a slang term for being offensively honest — and "not ideal"
