South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem defends book excerpt where she describes killing dog and goat

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, who’s been touted as a potential vice presidential pick, defended actions described in her upcoming book where she killed a dog and goat on her family farm.

Vice presidential contender South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem defended actions described in her upcoming book in which she killed a dog and goat on her family farm. According to an excerpt, which was obtained by The Guardian, Noem killed her dog Cricket because the dog was “untrainable,” “dangerous to anyone she came in contact with” and “less than worthless … as a hunting dog.” “I hated that dog,” Noem writes, according to the Guardian. In the excerpt, Noem writes she attempted to tame the dog, who she said behaved “like a trained assassin,” with an electronic collar, but ultimately made the decision to put her down by shooting her in a gravel pit after an incident in which the dog attacked a local family’s chickens and bit her. “It was not a pleasant job,” Noem writes, according to The Guardian, “but it had to be done. And after it was over, I realized another unpleasant job needed to be done.” Next, the Guardian quotes excerpts of the book in which Noem shoots a goat in the same manner. Noem describes the goat as “nasty and mean” and having a “disgusting, musky, rancid” smell. The goat made a habit of chasing and knocking down her kids, Noem adds.