Politicians and dog experts are criticizing South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem after she wrote in a new book about killing a rambunctious puppy. The story — and the vilification she received on social media — has some wondering whether she's still a viable potential running mate for presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Experts who work with hunting dogs like Noem’s said she should have trained — not killed — the pup, or found other options if the dog was out of control.
Noem has tried to reframe the story from two decades ago as an example of her willingness to make tough decisions. She wrote on social media that the 14-month-old wirehaired pointer named Cricket had shown aggressive behavior by biting.
“As I explained in the book, it wasn’t easy,” she said on X. “But often the easy way isn’t the right way.”
Still, Democrats and even some conservatives have been critical.
“This story is not landing. It is not a facet of rural life or ranching to shoot dogs,” conservative commentator Tomi Lahrenco posted online.
Several posters described Noem as Cruella de Vil, the villain from the Disney classic “101 Dalmatians.” A meme features a series of dogs offering looks of horror.
“I’m not sure which thing she did was stupider: The fact that she murdered the dog, or the fact that she was stupid enough to publish it in a book,” said Joan Payton, of the German Wirehaired Pointer Club of America. The club itself described the breed as “high-energy,” and said Noem was too impatient and her use of a shock collar for training was botched.
But South Dakota Democratic Senate Minority Leader Reynold Nesiba considered the disclosure more calculated than stupid. He said the story has circulated for years among lawmakers that Noem killed a dog in a “fit of anger” and that there were witnesses. He speculated that it was coming out now because Noem is being vetted as a candidate for vice president.
“She knew that this was a political vulnerability, and she needed to put it out there, before it came up in some other venue," he said. “Why else would she write about it?”
In her soon-to-be-released book, “No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward,” of which The Guardian obtained a pre-release copy, Noem writes that she took Cricket on a bird hunting trip with older dogs in hopes of calming down the wild puppy. Instead, Cricket chased the pheasants, attacked a family's chickens during a stop on the way home and then “whipped around to bite me," she wrote.
Noem's spokesperson didn't immediately respond to questions from The Associated Press about whether the dog actually bit her or just tried to do so, or whether Noem had to seek medical treatment. The book's publisher declined to provide AP an advance copy of the book.
Afterward, Noem wrote, she led Cricket to a gravel pit and killed her. She said she also shot a goat that the family owned, saying it was mean and liked to chase her kids.
The response to the story was swift: “Post a picture with your dog that doesn’t involve shooting them and throwing them in a gravel pit. I’ll start,” Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz posted on X. The post included a photo of him feeding ice cream off a spoon to his Labrador mix named Scout.
President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign added a photo of the president strolling on the White House lawn with one of his three German Shepherds. Two of Biden's dogs, Major and Commander, were removed following aggressive behavior, including toward White House and Secret Service personnel. The oldest, Champ, died.
Democrat Hillary Clinton reposted a 2021 comment in which she warned, “Don’t vote for anyone you wouldn’t trust with your dog.” She added Monday, “Still true.”
Conservative political commentator Michael Knowles said on his titular podcast that while Noem could have handled the situation differently, “there is nothing wrong with a human being humanely killing an animal.” He later added: “Fifty years ago, this political story would not have made anyone in most of America bat an eyelash. And the fact that it does today tells you something, not about the changing morality of putting down a farm animal, but about the changing politics of America.”
He later said that the story is “extremely stupid and insignificant” because Noem doesn’t have a chance of being selected as Trump’s running mate.
Payton, who is a delegate to the American Kennel Club and lives in Bakersfield, California, said the situation was a mess from beginning to end.
“That was a puppy that had no experience, obviously no training,” she said. “If you know a minuscule amount about a bird dog, you don’t take a 14 month old out with trained adult dogs and expect them to perform. That’s not how it works.”
The club itself said puppies learn best by hunting one-to-one with their owners, not with other dogs.
When problems arose she should have called the breeder, Payton said, or contacted rescue organizations that find new homes for the breed.
Among those groups is the National German Wirehaired Pointer Rescue, which called on Noem in a Facebook post to take accountability for her “horrific decision” and to educate the public that there are more humane solutions.
“Sporting breeds are bred with bird/hunting instincts but it takes training and effort to have a working field dog,” the group's Board of Directors wrote in the post.
Payton described Cricket as nothing more than “a baby,” saying the breed isn't physically mature until it is 2 years old and not fully trained it's 3- to 5-years old.
“This was a person that I had thought was a pretty good lady up until now," she said. "She was somebody that I would have voted for. But I think she may have shot herself in the foot.”
Politicians and dog experts vilify South Dakota governor after she writes about killing her dog
FILE - South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem attends an event Jan. 10, 2024, at the state Capitol in Pierre, S.D. The Guardian has obtained a copy of Noem's soon-to-be released book, where she writes about killing an unruly dog, and a smelly goat, too. She writes, according to the Guardian, that the tale was included to show her willingness to do anything "difficult, messy and ugly." (AP Photo/Jack Dura, File)
Politicians and dog experts vilify South Dakota governor after she writes about killing her dog
BEIRUT (AP) — The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah this week struck a military post in northern Israel using a drone that fired two missiles. The attack wounded three soldiers, one of them seriously, according to the Israeli military.
Hezbollah has regularly fired missiles across the border with Israel over the past seven months, but the one on Thursday appears to have been the first successful missile airstrike it has launched from within Israeli airspace.
The group has stepped up its attacks on Israel in recent weeks, particularly since the Israeli incursion into the southern city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip. It has struck deeper inside Israel and introduced new and more advanced weaponry.
“This is a method of sending messages on the ground to the Israeli enemy, meaning that this is part of what we have, and if needed we can strike more,” said Lebanese political analyst Faisal Abdul-Sater who closely follows Hezbollah.
While the cross-border exchanges of fire have been ongoing since early October, “complex attacks” by Hezbollah began a few days after Iran’s unprecedented drone and missile barrage attack on Israel in mid-April.
In the past two weeks, Hezbollah has escalated further in response to the Israeli incursion into the city of southern Rafah in the Gaza Strip, a Lebanese official familiar with the group’s operations said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to detail military information to the media.
The Thursday afternoon attack by a drone carrying missiles came just days after Hezbollah launched three anti-tank guided missiles at an Israeli military post that controlled a surveillance balloon flying over the border. They released camera footage afterward to show they had hit their mark. Hours later, the Israeli military confirmed that the spy balloon had been shot down over Lebanon.
The night before, Hezbollah had carried out its deepest attack in Israel to date using explosive drones to strike at a base in Ilaniya near the city of Tiberias about 35 kilometers (22 miles) from the Lebanon border. The Israeli military said the attack did not hurt anyone.
Abdul-Sater, the analyst, said the Iran-led coalition known as the axis of resistance, which includes the Palestinian militant group Hamas, has warned that if Israeli troops launch a full-scale invasion of Rafah in an attempt to go after Hamas, other fronts will also escalate.
Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels claimed Wednesday that they attacked a U.S. destroyer while Iran-backed militants in Iraq have said they fired a series of drones toward Israel in recent weeks after having gone relatively quiet since February.
Hezbollah's use of more advanced weaponry, including drones capable of firing missiles, explosive drones and the small type of guided missile known as Almas, or Diamond, that was used to attack the base controlling the balloon has raised alarms within the Israeli military.
“Hezbollah has been escalating the situation in the north,” said military spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani. “They’ve been firing more and more.”
In adapting its attacks, Hezbollah has also managed to reduce the numbers of fighters lost compared with the early weeks of the conflict.
The group has lost more than 250 fighters so far, compared with 15 Israeli troops since fighting broke out along the Lebanon-Israel border a day after the Israel-Hamas war started on Oct. 7.
According to a count by The Associated Press, Hezbollah lost 47 fighters in October and 35 in November, compared with 20 in April and 12 so far this month.
The official familiar with the group’s operations said Hezbollah had reduced the numbers of fighters along the border areas to bring down the numbers of casualties. While Hezbollah continues to fire Russian-made anti-tank Kornet missiles from areas close to the border, it has also shifted to firing drones and other types of rockets with heavy warheads — including Almas as well as Falaq and Burkan rockets — from areas several kilometers (miles) from the border.
Over the weekend, Hezbollah said it had launched a new rocket with a heavy warhead named Jihad Mughniyeh after a senior operative who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on southern Syria in 2015.
Eva J. Koulouriotis, a political analyst specialized in the Middle East and jihadi groups wrote on the social media platform X that Hezbollah's recent escalation likely has several goals, including raising the ceiling of the group's demands in any future negotiations for a border deal, as well as raising military pressure on Israel's military in light of the preparations for the battle in Rafah.
Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant vowed in a speech last week that “we will stand, we will achieve our goals, we will hit Hamas, we will destroy Hezbollah, and we will bring security.”
On Monday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah reiterated in a speech that there will be no end to the fighting along the Lebanon-Israel border until Israel’s military operations in the Gaza Strip come to an end.
“The main goal of Lebanon’s front is to contribute to the pressure on the enemy to end the war on Gaza,” Nasrallah said.
His comments were a blow to attempts by foreign dignitaries, including U.S. and French officials, who have visited Beirut t o try to put an end to the violence that has displaced tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border.
A day after Nasrallah spoke, Canada’s Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly visited Beirut and told Lebanon’s private LBC TV station that she was pushing for a cease-fire.
“We need the people living in the south of Lebanon to be able to go back to their homes," she said. "We need to make sure that the Israelis living in the northern part of Israel are able to get back to their homes also.”
Hezbollah’s deputy leader Naim Kassim warned Israel in a speech over the weekend against opening an all-out war.
“You have tried in the past and you were defeated and if you try again you will be defeated,” said Kassim, referring to the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah 34-day war that ended in a draw.
Associated Press writer Sam Mednick contributed to this report from Jerusalem.
Find more of AP's coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Lebanese soldiers block a road that links to the scene where Israeli airstrikes attacked a vehicle and a small brick factory, in Najariyeh village, south Lebanon, May 17, 2024. Three separate drone strikes on a coastal village in south Lebanon Friday killed three people, including two Syrian citizens, security officials said. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
Lebanese soldiers and Red Cross volunteers gather at a block road that links to the scene where Israeli airstrikes attacked a vehicle and a small brick factory, in Najariyeh village, south Lebanon, May 17, 2024. Three separate drone strikes on a coastal village in south Lebanon Friday killed three people, including two Syrian citizens, security officials said. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
FILE - Fighters from the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah carry out a training exercise in Aaramta village in the Jezzine District, southern Lebanon, Sunday, May 21, 2023. Lebanon's Hezbollah group is introducing new tactics and weapons against Israel as the war in Gaza drags on and Israeli troops enter parts of the southern city of Rafah. In mid-May 2024, Hezbollah has used a drone equipped with missiles to attack an Israeli post as well as an explosive drone to hit its deepest target so far since the clashes began seven months ago. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)
FILE - Family follow in grief as soldiers carry the casket of Israeli reserve Major Dor Zimel at his funeral in Even Yehuda, Israel, Monday, April 22, 2024. Zimel, 27, died after Iran-backed Lebanese militant Hezbollah group fired a volley of rockets and drones on northern Israel. The Hezbollah group is introducing new tactics and weapons against Israel as the war in Gaza drags on. In mid-May 2024, Hezbollah has used a drone equipped with missiles to attack an Israeli post as well as an explosive drone to hit its deepest target so far since the clashes began seven months ago. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)
FILE - Israeli soldiers deploy between the houses in the Israeli town of Metula, as seen from the Lebanese side of the Lebanese-Israeli border in the southern village of Kfar Kila, Lebanon, Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023. Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group is introducing new tactics and weapons against Israel as the war in Gaza drags on. In mid-May 2024, Hezbollah has used a drone equipped with missiles to attack an Israeli post as well as an explosive drone to hit its deepest target so far since the clashes began seven months ago. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)
FILE - An Israeli house in the northern Israeli border town of Metula, which was damaged by Hezbollah shelling, is seen from the Lebanese side of the Lebanese-Israeli border village of Kfar Kila, south Lebanon, Thursday, April 18, 2024. Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group is introducing new tactics and weapons against Israel as the war in Gaza drags on and Israeli troops enter parts of the southern city of Rafah. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari, File)
FILE - Israeli security forces examine the site hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon, in Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel, Wednesday, March 27, 2024. Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group is introducing new tactics and weapons against Israel as the war in Gaza drags on and Israeli troops enter parts of the southern city of Rafah. In mid-May 2024, Hezbollah has used a drone equipped with missiles to attack an Israeli post as well as an explosive drone to hit its deepest target so far since the clashes began seven months ago. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)
FILE - Israeli soldiers carry the casket of Israeli reserve Major Dor Zimel during his funeral in Even Yehuda, Israel, Monday, April 22, 2024. Zimel, 27, died of his wounds after Iran-backed Lebanese militant Hezbollah group fired a volley of rockets and drones on northern Israel. In mid-May 2024, Hezbollah has used a drone equipped with missiles to attack an Israeli post as well as an explosive drone to hit its deepest target so far since the clashes began seven months ago. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)
FILE - Smoke rises from inside an Israeli army position which was hit by Hezbollah fighters as seen from Tair Harfa village, a Lebanese border village with Israel, south Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 20, 2023. Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group is introducing new tactics and weapons against Israel as the war in Gaza drags on and Israeli troops enter parts of the southern city of Rafah. In mid-May 2024, Hezbollah has used a drone equipped with missiles to attack an Israeli post as well as an explosive drone to hit its deepest target so far since the clashes began seven months ago. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)
FILE - Israeli security forces examine the site hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon, in Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel, Wednesday, March 27, 2024. Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group is introducing new tactics and weapons against Israel as the war in Gaza drags on and Israeli troops enter parts of the southern city of Rafah. In mid-May 2024, Hezbollah has used a drone equipped with missiles to attack an Israeli post as well as an explosive drone to hit its deepest target so far since the clashes began seven months ago. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)
FILE - The fence of an Israeli military position is seen damaged after Hezbollah targeted it by rockets, on an occupied hill of Kfar Chouba village, southeast Lebanon, Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023. Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group is introducing new tactics and weapons against Israel as the war in Gaza drags on and Israeli troops enter parts of the southern city of Rafah. In mid-May 2024, Hezbollah has used a drone equipped with missiles to attack an Israeli post as well as an explosive drone to hit its deepest target so far since the clashes began seven months ago. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)
