The cruelty is the point
I am usually late to these things. I never promised to be first. I promised to give things some thought and come with a more comprehensive outlook. By now, you know that Kristi Noem (governor of South Dakota) is a noted dog killer. She volunteered this information herself in her book. You could even say she was bragging about it.
If you’ve been out of pocket for the last two weeks, she told this anecdote in her book about killing a 14 month old puppy because it was “untrainable.” She also killed a goat because it didn’t smell good and she didn’t like it. Apparently, she was a “farm girl” and that’s just how things are done on the farm.
A part of this is by design. Most progressives live in urban areas. So, if progressives object to this kind of behavior then it just highlights the difference between urban and rural America. Them city folk just don’t know how everything is done on the farm. They aren’t real Americans. They are snowflakes that want to virtue signal and cancel things they will just never understand.
It’s all a crock of bullshit. Anyone that has owned an animal or cared for an animal knows you don’t shoot that animal because “it cannot be trained.” Even if that is true there are hundreds of other options. There are people you could rehome the animal with. There are agencies like Second Chance Pets that will take the animal and rehome it for you. There are places that will allow the animal to roam free. It may not be the best life, but it is a life.
Admittedly, we are animal people. I have had as many as four cats at the same time. We had to put one of them to sleep several months ago. It was a sweet cat that had a horrible disease that was incurable and destined to cause him tons of pain. We also have a dog. He is fairly well trained now, but the first few months were rough. We have had a few hairy moments every now and then. He doesn’t like thunderstorms. He reacts around other dogs. He’s as smart as a whip, but he’s a dog. It’s what dogs do.
I suppose being an animal lover makes me weird. I inherited this trait from my mother. All of our cats have been rescues or second chance pets. Our dog was adopted as well. This is a trait that has been passed down to our daughter. I have always firmly believed that you can tell a lot about a person based on their disposition to animals. I’ve learned a lot about Kristi Noem the last couple of weeks. None of it has been good.
To be perfectly fair, I never was a big fan. However, she has demonstrated a cruelty and callousness that is breathtaking to see. It takes a cold and loveless heart to willingly kill an animal when its only crime was “smelling bad” or “being untrainable.” To brag about it is borderline sociopathic or psychopathic. Hell, the animal community debates euthanizing a chronically sick pet. There are those that believe that pets should be allowed to live a full life regardless of their medical condition. There are others that want to prevent needless suffering.
Then there are those that believe animals should be put down when they are inconvenient. I can’t fathom that. If they think animals are expendable then what do they think about people? Are some of us expendable? Maybe that is why we can play games with immigrants by threatening their lives and busing them half way across the country without their consent. It is only one small step from shooting a dog to discarding a human being. At least it used to be something we didn’t brag about. I guess those days are over.
Noem tries to say she was within the law to kill the dog. However, South Dakota actually has a law regarding when you can off a dog
Title 40, Chapter 34, Section 1
It shall be lawful for any person to kill any dog found chasing, worrying, injuring or killing poultry or domestic animals except on the premises of the owners of said dog or dogs.
Two points:
1) “found” – in other words, caught in the act. You can’t retroactively execute a dog. You can kill it to save the poultry (in this case) but not later
2) “except on the premises of the owners”- which is where the gravel pit is
Now, we look at Section 2 and see WHY she killed the dog
“Any person owning…a dog that chases, worries, injures or kills any poultry or domestic animal is guilty of a Class 2 Misdemeanor”
1) she also had to write a check to the poultry owner which was her fault anyway because she did not secure the dog returning from a hunt
2) she was guilty of a crime
3) so she killed the dog rather than take responsibility, because nowhere in all this Chapter does it say you MUST kill such a dog
The statute on any of these is long since run, but it leads one to wonder…
How many animals has the Governor of South Dakota killed just because they were inconvenient and/or she just hated them, like the poor goat who was just minding his own business.
1In my world “you smell like a goat” was a pretty standard grade school playground insult. How is it possible that the mid century Houston suburbs were more agrarian than South Dakota?
2Did she ever consider the fact that instead of the animal being uncontrollable it might be the owner who doesn’t know how to train in the first place?
3Hopefully, she didn’t drive the dog to the place of execution in a cage on the roof of her car (pickup?). You saw how an action such as that affected poor Mitt Romney’s campaign.
She says executing the puppy shows she can make the hard decisions. No Kristi, the easy decision was to snuff the pup. The hard decision would have been to take the time and make the effort to find a suitable home for the pup.
I suppose one could say the dog gave his life so that American can be free from Kristi holding any national office. The ultimate sacrifice any dog can make for home and country. Thank you Cricket for your posthumous gift to the American people.
4At 85, the past year has been the 1st time in my entire life that there has not been at least 1 dog and 1 cat in my house. They live 15-20 years. You can see the issues. About that time an abandoned momma cat brought us 2 litters of already feral kittens. SO we get to fix and feed around a dozen cats daily. I get the pet thing.
Anybody getting bent outta shape about her cruelty and stupidity regarding animals needs to take a look at how the meat counter at the grocery store is supplied.
5The first rule in training a dog is you must be smarter than the dog.Their is no rule that you need to be smart to get elected.
6In fact we elect some of the dumbest people on earth to high office.I ran obedience classes for a few years.I had a good friend
that bred and trained hunting dogs. In all that time we never killed a dog or hit it.Nor have I have ever seen a dog that I had to put down, because I was to dumb to train it. I think South Dakota should look in to post natal abortion.[For politicians]
Just a thought.
While it is true that Noem could probably have found alternatives for her dog and her goat, the idea that rehoming animals is a general proposition is nonsense.
Where are you going to rehome 500,000,000 over-the-hill laying hens?
7Yes, I’m guilty. I’m a meat eater that also thinks Noem’s actions with her animals were abhorrent. Having had dogs for almost all of my 7+ decades, I’ve found that dogs can sense how you feel about them and respond in kind. I’m thinking her 14 month old puppy dog sensed she’s a jerk. Same with the goat that suffered because she only wounded it till she could get more ammo. Pity any other animals in her control around the farm or governor’s residence.
8My SIL had dozens of wild cats around her farm and placed many of them in homes. I’m sure doing something humane first never entered Noem’s mind, kind of like her actions with respect to covid.
Noem is a total asshole. Total. It’s that simple.
9I know in Texas there are ranches specifically for feral cats and dogs. All of our pets are second chance pets. I’m not going to judge someone that feels they are unable to care for an animal. I get it. I will judge if they shoot them because they can’t be trained. If they viciously bite a neighbor or family member I get that’s a different deal. Based on her description it sounds like she didn’t know how to train the dog and then took it out on the dog. Bragging about it all these years later is just bizarre and demonstrates a lack of remorse that’s unsettling to say the least.
10To be honest, I think many of us are missing the point. Because she framed her actions as her ability to “do the unpleasant job that needed to be done”, the story is an intentional message to those she seeks as her supporters that (just as the Mango Mussolini has promised to do) she is willing to shoot those she sees as political threats – to wit: brown people, immigrants, gay people, smart people,…
We all know the list. It’s the same list as those rounded up in herded into concentration camps in WWII. And Noem’s story is not really even couched as a metaphor.
11Whatever her motives she is clueless regarding dogs. Most understand the same vocabulary as a 3-4 yo child. And this dog was young. My house was once were chosen by a little dog. She was awful. I picked up a book because the picture on the front could have been her. The book said she will make a great dog in 6-7 years. And she did. We later learned she had escaped from a house that had over 300 dogs just like her, and nobody knew it.
12Noem’s story may be because she wants to demonstrate she is willing to do the hard part. It’s a shame she selected a dead puppy to demonstrate the point. Most people love dogs. But thenTrump is not one of those.
I concede that farm and ranch people deal with animals in ways that could make city folk blanch, but this woman shows signs of sociopathy, or else she’s another son-of-a-bitch pandering to our worst impulses.
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