The Guardian obtained a copy of Noem’s soon-to-be released book, “No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward.” In it, she tells the story of the ill-fated Cricket, a 14-month-old wirehaired pointer she was training for pheasant hunting.

On the way home from the hunting trip, Noem writes that she stopped to talk to a family. Cricket got out of Noem’s truck and attacked and killed some of the family’s chickens, then bit the governor.

“At that moment,” Noem writes, “I realized I had to put her down.” She led Cricket to a gravel pit and killed her.

She writes, according to the Guardian, that the tale was included to show her willingness to do anything “difficult, messy and ugly” if it has to be done. But backlash was swift against the Republican governor, who just a month ago drew attention and criticism for posting an infomercial-like video about cosmetic dental surgery she received out-of-state.

  • @[email protected]
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    1087 months ago

    “I hated that dog,” Noem writes, deeming her “untrainable.”

    Sounds sane to me. Hating animals is cool.

    • ThePowerOfGeek
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      537 months ago

      Yup. And definitely not a big red flag of being a psychopath. No no!

      • @whereisk
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        87 months ago

        Nooo, almost none of the known serial killers started without murdering animals.

    • Flying Squid
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      7 months ago

      I have a pretty close to untrainable dog (she basically flunked out of obedience training) because she’s incredibly stubborn and I still love her with all of my heart.

      • @[email protected]
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        27 months ago

        That’s the right answer. My kitties keep eating the flowers my partner brought home. We don’t get mad at them. They’re cats!

        • Flying Squid
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          17 months ago

          My dog once brought in half a rabbit through the dog door in the middle of the night and there was blood everywhere. We never found the other half of the rabbit.

          Strangely enough, I didn’t lead her into a gravel pit and shoot her, I just told her she was a bad dog.