WARNING: Graphic Content – animal abuse – as Kristi Noem trends for the dog killing incident after a jarring South Park joke, the story behind the time she shot her pup, Cricket
Thanks to South Park’s latest controversy-stirrer, the time Kristi Noem shot her dog is trending again as people rush to fact-check this fun fact.
Kristi Noem’s book, titled No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward, details how she killed her 14-month-old hunting dog, putting poor Cricket down after she misbehaved on a hunt.
So, of course, South Park’s second episode of season 27, couldn’t let that go. The episode introduced the Head of Homeland Security as – spoiler – jarringly shooting every dog she saw. Because shooting her own dog after it misbehaved wasn’t the end of it. Noem has said and done multiple shocking things with dogs. And also, a goat.
She admitted to shooting her dog, Cricket
In her book, Noem recounted her struggles to control her once-dog, Cricket. She tried everything, she said, including an electronic collar, but nothing proved effective.
So one day, the dog, Cricket, escaped from Noem’s truck as she stopped to talk to a local family after a hunting trip, and attacked the familys chickens, killing them one by one with a single bite before moving on to the next.
Noem describes Crickets behavior as that of ‘a trained assassin,’ and when she finally managed to grab the dog, Cricket turned and tried to bite her. With the owner of the chickens hysterically crying, Noem apologized repeatedly, compensated the family with a check for the amount they requested, and helped clean up the scene. It was at that moment, Noem writes, that she realized she ‘had to put Cricket down.’
Noem took Cricket to a gravel pit and did what she said “had to be done.” She killed Cricket, who was just over a year old, then and there.
What she’s said about it since
After the controversy came to light, Noem made a statement, via ABC:
“The fact is, South Dakota law states that dogs who attack and kill livestock can be put down. Given that Cricket had shown aggressive behavior toward people by biting them, I decided what I did,” she wrote.
“Whether running the ranch or in politics, I have never passed on my responsibilities to anyone else to handle. Even if it’s hard and painful,” Noem wrote. “I followed the law and was being a responsible parent, dog owner, and neighbor.”
Donald Trump defended Noem
During the campaign in 2024, Trump defended her on the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton podcast, stating, “I think [Noem’s] terrific. A couple of rough stories, there’s no question about it.”
“And when explained – the dog story, people hear that and people from different parts of the country probably feel a bit differently, but that’s a tough story.”
Trump further added: “She had a bad week. We all have bad weeks.”
She’s also killed a goat
Her family also owned a goat, which she described as “nasty and mean,” a result of a failure to castrate him. She also described how “disgusting, musky, rancid” the goat smelled as she said he “loved to chase” her children, constantly bowling them over and ruining their clothes.
Noem decided to kill the goat, just as she had killed Cricket. She took him into a gravel pit and shot him, but this time, there was a mishap the goat leaped out as the shot rang out, meaning the poor animal escaped, wounded, and didn’t die. So, she described grabbing another shell from her truck, racing back to the gravel pit and putting the goat down.
Both slaughters happened right after one another, and Noem said she realized a construction crew had been watching her the entire time. They quickly got back to work, she wrote, and seconds later, she was saved by the school bus arriving to drop off her children.
It’s legal in South Dakota, Noem’s home state
In South Dakota, it’s perfectly legal to kill a dog that’s been ‘chasing, worrying, injuring, or killing poultry or domestic animals except on the premises of the owners of said dog or dogs, according to the state’s codified law 40-34-1.
That time she said Biden’s dog should be ‘put down’
President Joe Biden’s German shepherd, Commander, isn’t exactly a popular pooch over the last year, he was involved in as many as 25 biting incidents, eventually leading to his banishment because of his behavior.
Kristi Noem has another idea of what should have happened to the dog, however. An excerpt obtained by several media outlets reveals that she also suggested that Commander be put down, killed for his biting shenanigans.
DHS did not address the dog issue in their statement but thanked South Park for noting their efforts to broaden hiring efforts. We want to thank South Park for drawing attention to ICE law enforcement recruitment. We are calling on patriotic Americans to help us remove murderers, gang members, pedophiles, and other violent criminals from our country. Benefits available to new ICE recruits include an up to $50,000 signing bonus, student loan forgiveness, and retirement benefits. Apply today at join.ice.gov.”
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