An animal shelter in South Dakota is rebuffing the idea that there’s such a thing as an “untrainable” dog as Republican Gov. Kristi Noem defends a years-old decision to shoot her 14-month-old puppy over its poor behavior.
The governor was widely viewed as a frontrunner in Donald Trump’s vice presidential sweepstakes—until Friday, when The Guardian published excerpts from her forthcoming biography, including grisly details about killing animals on her farm, including the puppy, a female wirehaired pointer named Cricket.
In her book, Noem reportedly writes that Cricket was “untrainable,” “aggressive,” and “less than worthless” as a hunting dog. She recalls dragging Cricket to a gravel pit and shooting her in front of a stricken construction crew after becoming fed up with the dog, who had ruined a hunting trip, killed chickens, and bit her.