South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem on Wednesday reiterated her defense of shooting and killing her family dog, which she reportedly details in an upcoming book.
Noem, considered a potential running mate for former President Donald Trump, said in an interview with Fox News that the dog was “extremely dangerous.”
“It came to us from a family who found it very aggressive,” Noem said, adding that the dog “butchered” the neighbor’s cattle on the day of the murder.
Noem said her 14-month-old dog was a “working dog” and “not a puppy.”
“At the time, I had young children, a lot of young children who worked around our businesses and people, and I wanted to make sure they were safe,” Noem told Fox News’ Sean Hannity.
The South Dakota governor said she included the anecdote in her book “because this book is filled with difficult and challenging decisions I have had to make throughout my life.”
The Guardian first reported Noem’s account of shooting her dog after obtaining a copy of the book that will be published next week. The story described a case in which the dog Cricket killed a family’s chickens. In her book, Noem allegedly described the dog as “less than useless” and “untrainable.”
When Noem decided to kill her dog, she grabbed her gun and took the dog to a gravel pit, according to the report.
Noem received harsh criticism following The Guardian’s article, but she has defended her actions multiple times.
On Sunday, Naomi reiterated that his decision “wasn’t easy. But often the easy way is not the right way.”
Following The Guardian’s story, a number of politicians posted photos of their dogs with the caption “Post a photo with your dog that doesn’t involve shooting them and throwing them into a gravel pit.”
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