Kristi Noem fondly recalls the day she killed her dog

[ingemann]

Cuts to the heart of the “animals are working things/property and only belong outside and I do what o want” that a lot of rural people have. Sick mindset.

It’s a normal mindset, I like dogs and see it as a pet, but if a dog is a work animal there’s nothing wrong with treating it as one, as long as you don’t commit animal abuse.

[ingemann]

This was the dog, it wasn't even one of those pitbull mutations. And it was a puppy too which didn't deserve to die for misbheaving. The reason Noem killed it was because it embarrased her in front of other people, plain and simple. It had nothing to do with "danger", but more so she got humiliated because instead of training it she was doing ads for dental surgery in Texas.

It look like a German Wirehaired Pointer, it’s good hunter of small game, but also a good companion and guard dog, it should be easily trainable, but if untrained it can be hostile toward strangers and it will go after small animals.

[ingemann]

Honestly I think this is one of those things where well-off Democrats and rural Republicans are on completely different pages and neither really grasps how hard the other side disagrees.

"well-off Democrats" and "rural Republicans" is not a binary lol

And no, I don't think the majority of rural Republicans think shooting your dog because you had no idea how to train it is okay

He wasn’t saying it was. He was merely contrasting two different groups that seem to be represented here and to have strongly contrasting views.

I suspect that most Republican voters living in a rural area (below some threshold of density) think it is okay to put down a dog that bites you and attacks your neighbors chickens.

Exactly. I don't personally condone Noem's actions, but this idea that white hipster New Yorkers (and lots of other people, to be sure) have that dogs are part of the family like just as much as people is not as common of an attitude in the red states. I don't think that most people who are voting for Trump are going to see her as a "murderer" or find this disqualifying to her political career.

The fact that she did it herself is a little jarring. There's a plethora of vets and animal shelters that will put down a pet humanely for any reason (or maybe there's not in the blue states, I don't know, but there definitely in the red states), much less one that is biting and present a hint of danger to humans - in fact, a vet or shelter would probably urge the owner to euthanize in that case. Also it's a bit jarring how flippant she is about it, rather than sad and disappointed. But neither of those jarring things is going to matter to most people who would like the idea of her being Trump's VP. (And let's get real, the rest will fall in line anyway the day Trump picked her.)

Edit to say that I just don't see this as a huge, shocking, career-affecting story that a lot of people online seem to think it is (and I don't mean Twitter bots, but legitimate journalists and TalkElections posters I respect). I don't know if it's a red state/blue state thing or something else entirely, but this just seems like something that happens to families from time to time, a pet turning out to be dangerous and having to be euthanized for everyone's safety. Noem is awfully cavalier about it, and who knows if the dog was truly as dangerous as she says, but this story just isn't packing that "OMG can you believe this shocking, out-of-the-ordinary scandal!" punch to me.

I think the cavalier attitude is the major problem, most dog owners even owners of working dogs, love their dogs and the whole bragging about she shoot her dog will likely hit wrong even on a lot of people who would do the same.

[ingemann]

This is a sadomasochistic exercise in political branding gone awry, not a fixture of "rural life."

Noem comes across like a pampered, wanton woman throwing away an unwanted toy.

Yes, if it’s the dog breed I think it is, it’s not a cheap dog. It does come across as someone who have bought a working dog for the lifestyle, but have been unwilling to put the time and effort into train it for it. Honestly if I was her opponent I would look into the price of the specific dog and attack her based on that, because if you shoot it yourself, it’s usually to save money and that doesn’t fit well with a expensive breed,

[ingemann]

That this is even called a "controversy" is too far.

It should be 99.99% unanimous, against just a few crazies.


"Puppy killing controversy" -- I never thought I'd see those words together. "Puppy killing crime," "puppy-killing horror," "puppy-killing abuse," -- this should not be even referred to as a "controversy."

I think her main problem is that the details just make it increasingly worse, most people balk at killing a dog. But killing a untrained puppy for being untrained that’s worse, the fact that it’s expensive dog just make her look like rich person throwing expensive toys away, and ending it with her daughter asking about the dog clearly seeing it as a pet, make Kristi Noem look like there’s something fundamentally wrong with her, and to top it up when people become aware that this is in a book she wrote… well “it’s the weirdest f***ing thing” even the Trump campaign have seen.

[ingemann]

It astounds me that this whole quagmire is completely self-created, and that she's working overtime to add more fuel to the fire. Her PR person probably deserves to be shot more than her dog did.

Btw, shockingly enough, some politicians have actually outright sided with Noem on this...I was doubly surprised that it was Dusty Johnson (SD's congressman), who's usually one of the more sane Republicans: "Life is a little different in rural America. I would tell you that people are going to handle those situations differently. I know Kristi. And clearly she handled that, I think, with as much humanity for the animal as was needed."

Kristi Noem Is Gunning for Biden’s Dog

“At the end of the book, you say the very first thing you would do if you got to the White House that was different from Joe Biden is that you’d make sure ‘Joe Biden’s dog was nowhere on the grounds. Commander, say hello to Cricket.’ Are you doing this to try to look tough?” Brennan asked.

“Well, number one, Joe Biden’s dog has attacked 24 Secret Service people,” Noem said. “So how many people is enough people to be attacked and dangerously hurt before you make a decision on a dog and what to do with it?”

“Well he’s not living at the White House anymore,” Brennan interjected. Commander was removed from the White House and sent to live with other members of the Biden family after the German Shepherd bit Secret Service personnel on at least 24 occasions.

“That’s a question that the president should be held accountable to,” Noem replied.

“You’re saying [Commander] should be shot?” Brennan asked incredulously.

“That’s what the president should be accountable to. What is the number?” Noem said.

Never in my life did I think I’d see a politician triple down on dog murder

This. The phrase "Republicans want to kill your puppy" bears a whole new meaning now.

I suspect that her PR person is a dog lover and so is her publisher, and they both heardher story and decided to tell her that she should share that story with the world.

[ingemann]

There's more outrage about this from certain white voters than the shooting of unarmed black people, or running over a protestor with your car. Noem is such an idiot but voters are dumb as hell.

I’m going to promise you that people would have reacted more strongly, if Noem had written about how she had taken a Black man to a gravel pit and executed him.