OPINION | This article contains the author's opinion.
Governor Kristi Noem of South Dakota has faced significant backlash over details revealed in her upcoming political book.
In the book, Noem admits to shooting and killing her family’s 14-month old puppy, Cricket, after the dog exhibited rambunctious behavior during a hunting trip and subsequently killed some neighbor’s chickens when escaping from Noem’s truck.
Cricket began “grabb[ing] one chicken at a time, crunching it to death with one bite, then dropping it to attack another,” Noem writes.
“At that moment,” Noem later adds, “I realized I had to put her down.”
Noem portrayed shooting the young dog as a virtuous display of leadership and responsibility, though many view killing a puppy for immature behavior as reprehensible.
“I can understand why some people are upset about a 20 year old story of Cricket, one of the working dogs at our ranch, in my upcoming book — No Going Back. The book is filled with many honest stories of my life, good and bad days, challenges, painful decisions, and lessons learned,” she wrote online.
“Whether running the ranch or in politics, I have never passed on my responsibilities to anyone else to handle. Even if it’s hard and painful. I followed the law and was being a responsible parent, dog owner, and neighbor,” she wrote.
“As I explained in the book, it wasn’t easy. But often the easy way isn’t the right way.”
The story has drawn widespread criticism of Noem’s judgment and raised questions about her suitability for national political roles.
Noem’s justification of the puppy’s shooting as the “right” decision has done little to quell the criticism and outrage over her admitted actions.