South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, who is widely tipped to be the running mate for former President Donald Trump, has admitted to shooting dead one of her dogs because it was "less than worthless" and similarly also killing a goat she found "disgusting."
As Donald Trump contemplates who should become his VP, Noem has authored a new book titled "No Going Back: The Truth on What's Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward," set to be released on May 7. In the book, the 52-year-old Republican reportedly explains in detail the killings, citing them as evidence of her willingness to tackle "difficult, messy, and ugly" tasks when necessary.
No Mercy for the Helpless
In her book, Noem recounts the story of Cricket, a 14-month-old wirehair pointer, which she shot at a gravel pit on her family's property, just moments before her children returned home from school. The Guardian, which obtained an advance copy of the book, reported on the details.
Noem claimed that the dog had an "aggressive personality" that couldn't be controlled, citing an incident where Cricket disrupted a pheasant hunt by being "out of her mind with excitement," chasing birds excessively.
"I hated that dog," Noem writes, calling Cricket "dangerous to anyone she came in contact with" and "less than worthless ... as a hunting dog."
"At that moment, I realized I had to put her down."
Noem, who served as a congresswoman representing her state for eight years, recounted how she retrieved her gun and guided Cricket to a gravel pit. "It was not a pleasant job," she said, "but it had to be done."
She remembered her daughter Kennedy's confusion when she returned home from school that day, asking, "Hey, where's Cricket?"
One Murder after Another
She shot Cricket at the family's gravel pit. "It was not a pleasant job," Noem said, "but it had to be done. And after it was over, I realized another unpleasant job needed to be done."
Noem wrote in the book that she also decided to kill the family goat because he was "nasty and mean," as he remained uncastrated and smelled "disgusting, musky, and rancid" and "loved to chase the governor's children."
The goat was similarly taken to a gravel pit, but when Noem pulled the trigger, it jumped and survived the initial. She then returned to her truck to get another shell and quickly returned to the gravel pit to kill the goat.
"I guess if I were a better politician I wouldn't tell the story here," she concluded the story.
In her book "No Going Back: The Truth on What's Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward," Noem revealed that a construction crew witnessed her kill both animals.
On Friday, Noem, who Trump has mentioned as being on his shortlist for Vice President, responded to the report while promoting her upcoming book.
"We love animals, but tough decisions like this happen all the time on a farm," she wrote on X alongside a screenshot of the Guardian article.
"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, preorder 'No Going Back,'" she wrote along with a link.
