Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem took to social media Friday to address criticisms of a controversial passage in her soon-to-be-released book, “No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward.”
Noem posted on X (previously known as Twitter), reacting to a piece by The Guardian and explaining a passage in her book about euthanizing a 14-month-old dog.
We love animals, but tough decisions like this happen all the time on a farm. Sadly, we just had to put down 3 horses a few weeks ago that had been in our family for 25 years.
If you want more real, honest, and politically INcorrect stories that’ll have the media gasping,… pic.twitter.com/bKhpUkchHV
— Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) April 26, 2024
Noem’s book, set for release in May 2024, was previewed by the British outlet. Passages where Noem recounts shooting her dog, Cricket, were highlighted by the outlet.
The governor claimed that while hunting pheasants to promote calm and teach discipline, Cricket became too excited and disrupted the activity by chasing the birds, the outlet reported, citing the book. Noem’s efforts to control the dog with verbal commands and an electronic collar were reportedly unsuccessful. (RELATED: That Has Nothing To Do With This’: CNN Host Interrupts Gov. Kristi Noem Over Biden, Trump Comparison)
The situation worsened when Cricket reportedly escaped from Noem’s truck and killed several chickens belonging to a local family. Noem, describing the dog as behaving like “a trained assassin,” met with the upset chicken owner, compensated them for their loss and helped clean up, The Guardian reported.
In the book, Noem reportedly described the dog as “the picture of pure joy” amid the chaos; however, ultimately the dog was “untrainable” and a danger to others. “At that moment. I realized I had to put her down,” Noem wrote, according to The Guardian. “It was not a pleasant job, but it had to be done.”