South Dakota governor and possible Trump running mate says she made ‘a choice between [my children] and a dangerous animal’

The South Dakota governor and Republican vice-presidential hopeful Kristi Noem asked the American public to consider having to “make a choice between your children or a dangerous animal”, as she again defended her killing of a 14-month-old dog.

“I would ask everybody in the country to put themselves in that situation,” Noem told CBS’s Face the Nation about her decision to shoot the dog, named Cricket, after the animal ruined a pheasant hunt and killed a neighbor’s chickens.

“Because that’s what I faced, and I talked about it because what I’m tired of in this country is politicians who pretend to be something that they’re not.”

Asked why she did not surrender Cricket to an animal shelter before killing the dog, about 20 years ago, Noem repeated her prior claims that the creature was simply untrainable, had tried to bite her, and might have bitten others.

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    There is simply no way she is going to get out of this. Even lots of Republicans love their dogs and wouldn’t shoot a puppy.

    “I would ask everybody in the country to put themselves in that situation,” Noem told CBS’s Face the Nation about her decision to shoot the dog, named Cricket, after the animal ruined a pheasant hunt and killed a neighbor’s chickens.

    Okay. I’m putting myself in that situation.

    In that situation, I’d either get someone to properly train the dog or give it up to a rescuer and I would compensate the neighbor.

    I doubt she even compensated the neighbor.

    • Boozilla@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      So many options on how to handle this that don’t require killing the dog.

      Like a lot of gun nuts, she can’t think outside of that very small box. Like a lot of gun nuts, she thinks this story makes her look like a “bad ass”.

      It makes her look like a trigger happy moron. Any psycho can shoot a dog. It doesn’t require strength or skill. It’s not impressive at all. It reveals her to be a sick POS with zero problem-solving skills.

      I do hope her political career is done. I hope we stop seeing stories about her, so she can take her place in the trash can of history where she belongs.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        I would guarantee you that, while there are people who absolutely worship guns and shoot every animal they can get away with shooting, even a lot of them would draw the line at a puppy.

    • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
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      8 months ago

      There is no situation, she is falling on her face because even farmers don’t shoot their animals anymore, let alone their dogs. If you have a big farm, you pay the vet so much money that they will do euthanasia for free. And if you just have a handful of animals, it’s like $20 or $30. They do this as a service so assholes don’t do messy/inhumane executions.

  • kn0wmad1c@programming.dev
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    8 months ago

    She killed her dog and then immidately killed one of her goats too for shits and giggles.

    She’s not a politician. She’s an unhinged lunatic with bloodlust and an itchy trigger finger.

  • Jaysyn@kbin.social
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    8 months ago

    the creature was simply untrainable

    This is a lie.

    She’s a lying, authoritarian monster.

    When people show you what they are, believe them.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      Even if it was true that Cricket was untrainable as a hunting dog, I doubt it would have been impossible to rehome.

      • kent_eh@lemmy.ca
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        8 months ago

        Ask her what she thinks about immigrants and minorities.

        The guy she wants to work for has called them “animals”, so…

    • AbidanYre@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      But if I were to suggest that all this doubling down makes Kristi seem untrainable…, suddenly I’m banned from Lemmy and on a government list somewhere.

  • ImADifferentBird
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    8 months ago

    You know, I kind of agree with her. I, too, am sick of politicians pretending to be something they’re not. So I appreciate her candor in revealing herself as a puppy-killing sociopath.

    On a related note, I wouldn’t vote for her for any office on Earth, because the last thing we need is more puppy-killing sociopaths in charge.

    (My dad would say, “I wouldn’t vote for her for dog catcher,” to say he thought she wasn’t fit for any office at any level, but when I think about it, that’s probably the office she’s least suited for.)

    • sazey@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      Right! I’m tired of your overly smarmy backstabbing politician with the perfectly manicured public image. Let’s see the true lunatics come forth.

  • mhague@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    She lied about meeting a world leader and had a fake story about it to make her look tough. She’s on TV as I write this and she can’t even answer any questions about it without dodging. She’s such a real character!

  • rusticus@lemm.ee
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    8 months ago

    Something her pea brain cannot grasp: if I can’t train the dog perhaps someone else can do a better job.

    Nope, imma shoot it dead because no one is better than me at anything. This is the Republican Party in a fucking nutshell.

  • cygnus@lemmy.ca
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    8 months ago

    I too am tired of politicians pretending to not be total psychopaths, so perhaps I should be thanking Noem for taking this stance.

  • mipadaitu@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    I’m tired of politicians pretending to be what they’re not too. I’m very glad she showed us exactly who she is, so we can all decide we don’t want her anywhere near anything important.

    Thank you, K. Noem. If you had lied we might have accidentally voted for you.

  • Granbo's Holy Hotrod@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    One of those core memories. We are at Uncles shacks in the sticks. All the kids are running around and adults milling about. The door swings open and the cutest red dobie is being dragged out the screen door. One pop to the back of the head and my uncle let it slide into the shit pit. Come to find out it nipped at one of the kids. No questions. No apologies, just handled.

    • SeaJ@lemm.ee
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      8 months ago

      Handled poorly. Nipped at or actually bit? Did that happen often? Did your uncle not train the dog? Was there nobody who could take the dog? Was there no vet who could ensure the dog was put down humanely?

      Noem’s dog did not bite anyone. She said it tried to bite her a couple times but made no mention that it bit anyone. Same with the billy goat. She said it chased some kids but never mentioned it biting anyone. That one is even worse because it took her two shots to kill it. In reality, she shared the stories to try to seem rough and hardened. I grew up with lots of ranchers and farmers. None of them would do that shit. I have seen a lot of idiots claim that animals on farms are tools and once they are no longer useful, they are gone. I can’t say I have ever come across a rancher or farmer who actually takes that stance especially with a dog.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        One of my dogs actually bit me today. He was on my lap and the other dog was barking and he turned and growled. So I nudged him and said, “go on,” which is not uncommmon, and he turned around and bit me. Hard. Didn’t draw blood but it still hurt for quite a while. I bopped him on the nose and sternly said bad boy to him and refused to pet him and he clearly realized he did a bad thing.

        I did not then lead him to a gravel pit and shoot him, I let him come back on my lap after a while and started petting him again.

        • SeaJ@lemm.ee
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          8 months ago

          And she knew it was an aggressive dog because the people who gave it to her told her so. She is claiming that she put the dog down for the safety of her children but apparently that was not a concern when she knowingly got an aggressive dog.

  • rusticus@lemm.ee
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    8 months ago

    I’m tired of politicians pretend to be something that they’re not.

    Shot across the bow to all the sociopaths that are politicians.

  • sucricdrawkcab@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    Been in a situation with a dog like that and the vet was still the only option. She makes it seem like blowing a dog away is the only option.