South Dakota governor and Republican vice presidential candidate Kristi Noem On Friday, he responded to reports of a chapter in his upcoming book in which he described killing his 14-month-old dog.
“We love the animals, but on the farm there are always difficult decisions,” he said Send to X above a title GuardianGot a copy of Noem’s upcoming book, No Return.
An article in The Guardian cites a section of Noem’s book, due out next month, in which he talks about shooting his dog after deciding it was “worthless” and “unteachable”.
In his account, Noem took his gun and led the dog, Cricket, to the gravel pit.
Noem wrote: “It wasn’t an unpleasant task, but it had to be done. And when it was over, I realized that there was another unpleasant thing to do.”
He then proceeded to kill a family goat, which he called “filthy and vile”. Noem also took the goat to the gravel pit, and he said his first shot wounded but did not kill the animal. According to the book, he bought another shell for his gun and killed the goat.
Noem wrote that when her daughter came home from school, she looked confused and asked, “Hey, where’s Cricket?”
NBC News has not obtained Noem’s book or the independently verified piece reported by The Guardian.
Noem was criticized on social media on Friday; some said “he was horrified,” while others posted pictures of their dogs.
The Biden campaign posted photos the president’s commander walking the family dog, experienced multiple bite incidentsand Vice President Kamala Harris hugs a dog.
Noem is considered a front-runner to be Trump’s running mate. He is in his second term as governor of South Dakota and previously served as the state’s lone representative in the U.S. House of Representatives.