South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem on Wednesday reiterated her defense that she shot and killed her family’s dog. details are reported in a future book.
Noem, who is considered a potential candidate for former President Donald Trump, said in an interview with Fox News that the dog is “extremely dangerous”.
“It came to us from a family that got their way very aggressively,” Noem said, adding that the neighbor’s cattle were “broken” the day the dog was killed.
Noem said her 14-month-old dog is a “working dog” and “not small.”
“At the time, I had little kids and we had a business and a lot of little kids working with people, and I wanted to make sure they were safe,” Noem told Fox News’ Sean Hannity.
The South Dakota governor said he included the anecdote in his book “because it’s full of tough, tough decisions that I’ve had to make throughout my life.”
Guardian reported Noem hitting his dog for the first time since getting a copy of the book, which will be published next week. The story described an incident where a dog named Cricket killed a family’s chickens. In his book, Noem described the dog as “worthless” and “unteachable”.
When Noem decided to kill his dog, he reportedly grabbed his gun and took the dog to a gravel pit.
Noem has come under fire after The Guardian’s article, but he has repeatedly defended his actions.
Sunday, Noem he repeated his decision “wasn’t easy. But often the easy way is not the right way.”
Following The Guardian’s story, a number of politicians posted pictures of their dogs with the caption “Post a picture with your dog that doesn’t involve hitting them and throwing them in a gravel pit.”