South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem is under fire for the revelation in a coming memoir of her shooting an out-of-control 14-month-old dog years ago. She is widely considered to be a frontrunner as the running mate for former President Donald Trump.

Noem said the dog, a wirehair pointer named Cricket, was “untrainable.” Training with an electronic collar failed, and taking her on a bird hunt with older dogs was a disaster.

On the way home from the attempted hunt, Noem recalled stopping to talk to a local family. Cricket escaped from the car and killed some of the family’s chickens before the governor said she “whipped around to bite me.”

Noem said that was when she discovered that the dog was “dangerous to anyone she came in contact with.” She then took Cricket to a gravel pit and shot her. 

The Republican described the act as “not a pleasant job, but it had to be done. And after it was over, I realized another unpleasant job needed to be done.”

The governor also had a troublesome goat which she described as “nasty and mean.” The uncastrated animal smelled “disgusting” and “loved to chase” her kids, so she took it to the same gravel pit where she put down Cricket.

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…

— Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) April 28, 2024

Democrats obviously pounced on these revelations from Noem’s forthcoming book, “No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward.”

Several other governors posted pictures with their pets in a manner mocking Noem.

And while this can be expected, there was also pushback from several on the Republican side of politics. Staunch Trump supporter Laura Loomer posted on X, formerly Twitter, “She can’t be VP now. You can’t shoot your dog and then be VP.” 

Independent conservative journalist Tim Pool asked, “Did she just intentionally end her career?”

The Babylon Bee, a popular conservative satire website, posted several headlines referencing the tale. One declared, “‘I’m Sorry I Have To Do This,’ Says Kristi Noem After Puppy Playfully Barks At Mailman.”

Noem responded to the deluge of bad press by noting on X that her family loves 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.”