The Guardian obtained a copy of Noem’s soon-to-be released book, “No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward.” In it, she tells the story of the ill-fated Cricket, a 14-month-old wirehaired pointer she was training for pheasant hunting.
On the way home from the hunting trip, Noem writes that she stopped to talk to a family. Cricket got out of Noem’s truck and attacked and killed some of the family’s chickens, then bit the governor.
“At that moment,” Noem writes, “I realized I had to put her down.” She led Cricket to a gravel pit and killed her.
She writes, according to the Guardian, that the tale was included to show her willingness to do anything “difficult, messy and ugly” if it has to be done. But backlash was swift against the Republican governor, who just a month ago drew attention and criticism for posting an infomercial-like video about cosmetic dental surgery she received out-of-state.
I mean I get why some people feel it’s necessary to put down an aggressive dog, but holy shit, bragging about it just makes you look like a psychopath… when in Rome, I guess 🤷♂️
She was training the dog to hunt pheasants. The dog attacked chickens (pheasants)… And bit her while she was trying to stop it. There was 0 need to kill that dog.
I grew up in the country, raised chickens with my folks, so I get that farm dogs are different than indoor pets, I’ve had to put down a few dogs in my day due to old yeller situations but I’ve never put a dog down for being a shitty dog trainer, something that Republicans seem to really love bragging about.
The point is to show she can intentionally and decisively be cruel and mean, especially to an animal under her custody. This is seen as a desirable character trait to Trump’s followers.
The point is to show she can intentionally and decisively be cruel and mean, especially to an animal under her custody.
Combine that with Trump labeling groups he doesn’t like as a bunch of animals and it gets even scarier to think that they might join forces.
I mean SS troops had to kill the dog that they raised as a puppy through their entire training to prove their dedication to Hitler.
I think you’re thinking of Game of Thrones and the Unsullied. 😂
(In all seriousness I know this is an urban legend told about many different military organizations around the world. I don’t know if there’s any truth to it.)
The linked interview has one(!) offhand comment by Abram de Swaan about the alleged practise. The interview is in part to promote his book “The Killing Compartments: The Mentality of Mass Murder.” which of course features Nazi Germany quite a bit. So I went ahead and downloaded said book. The words ‘dog’, ‘puppy’ ,or ‘pet’ are mentioned zero times in the entirety of the book.
Trying to find the book and more sources for the allegation I came up with nothing else.
While “SS-Troops” (idiotic generalisation in this case) like the SS-Totenkopfverbände did many fucked up thinks and would be fucked up enough to feature the alleged dog killings in their training - there is so far no proof whatsoever.
If this were the case it would be in every other movie about WW2. It’s in Kingsmen FFS, where the good guys do this as part of their training.
Sorry, I have to call BS on this one.
Is there a source for this? Not disagreeing, I e just never heard this before.
That’s because it never happened. If it had you’d definitely have heard about it.
By that logic Ea-Nasir didnt sell high quality copper until the rediscovery of his tablets. Obscurity doesnt equal it didnt happen.
You’re comparing apples to Nazis.
ELI5 for the intellectually challenged downvoting this:
Apple: Ea-nāṣir - one random dude c. 1750 BCE.
Nazis: The OG Nazis 1933 - 1945 that murdered millions of people.
The comparison is incredibly stupid. You might just as well liken a speck of dust to a planet.
Some of us have heard about it.
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2015/03/evil-in-the-making/#:~:text=DE%20SWAAN%3A%20For%20example%2C%20they,was%20necessary%20for%20the%20Volk.
(Link from a few comments above)
Initial answer when the comment had nos source: Source: Trust me bro.
The linked interview has one(!) offhand comment by Abram de Swaan about the alleged practise. The interview is in part to promote his book “The Killing Compartments: The Mentality of Mass Murder.” which of course features Nazi Germany quite a bit. So I went ahead and downloaded said book. The words ‘dog’, ‘puppy’ ,or ‘pet’ are mentioned zero times in the entirety of the book.
Trying to find the book and more sources for the allegation I came up with nothing else.
While “SS-Troops” (idiotic generalisation in this case) like the SS-Totenkopfverbände did many fucked up thinks and would be fucked up enough to feature the alleged dog killings in their training - there is so far no proof whatsoever.
If this were the case it would be in every other movie about WW2. It’s in Kingsmen FFS, where the good guys do this as part of their training.
Sorry, I have to call BS on this one.
Source: Harvard.edu
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2015/03/evil-in-the-making/#:~:text=DE%20SWAAN%3A%20For%20example%2C%20they,was%20necessary%20for%20the%20Volk.
The linked interview has one(!) offhand comment by Abram de Swaan about the alleged practise. The interview is in part to promote his book “The Killing Compartments: The Mentality of Mass Murder.” which of course features Nazi Germany quite a bit. So I went ahead and downloaded said book. The words ‘dog’, ‘puppy’ ,or ‘pet’ are mentioned zero times in the entirety of the book.
Trying to find the book and more sources for the allegation I came up with nothing else.
While “SS-Troops” (idiotic generalisation in this case) like the SS-Totenkopfverbände did many fucked up thinks and would be fucked up enough to feature the alleged dog killings in their training - there is so far no proof whatsoever.
If this were the case it would be in every other movie about WW2. It’s in Kingsmen FFS, where the good guys do this as part of their training.
Sorry, I have to call BS on this one.
Anyone who willingly wears a badge or military uniform would kill their mother given the order. These symbols are identification showing us exactly who is preventing societal progress.
She tells it like it is. Unfortunately, because of people like her, she’s not totally wrong.
Authoritarian virtue signaling.
I’m willing to murder my dog who else do you think I’m willing to murder? So how about you make me your VP?
That’s exactly what this is. It’s violence porn for right-wing psychos.
“She led Cricket to a gravel pit and killed her”
So the unruly dog followed her to its death… That doesn’t sound very unruly.
She killed her dog because she didn’t know how to train her dog
Not true. She trained it to chase pheasants all day before it attacked the chickens. It did exactly what she trained it to do.
Tbh not many people out there know how to train dogs (or cats for that matter).
In general, they don’t kill their dogs over their failure.
True, but they often send them back to where they adopted them from … when shelters are often overflowing.
So what’s your point, genius? That we shouldn’t view her how she deserves to be viewed, I.e. a horrible person who shouldn’t be near any kind of grown up profession?
Straw man argument.
Not only a straw man, he also presented an ad hominem.
I mean yeah if I saw her or one of the other MAGAts dying in a ditch after a car accident, I’d pump my fist and continue on my merry way. Just being honest here.
Giving the dog another chance to be adopted is a hell of a lot better than having it follow you to a gravel pit and then killing it.
Better give the dog a chance. It’s a purebred, she would get adopted.
Not really a distinction worth making when surrendering or adopting out a dog is just a pipeline to Euthanization anyways. This dog bit a human being, killed small animals for sport, it’s far too late to salvage.
There are plenty of no kill shelters. This county’s shelter is no kill.
And no kill shelters are selective and in high demand.
The one here is not selective. It serves a county of 100,000 people. The surrounding counties also have no-kill shelters.
I wonder how she treats unruly children and people who don’t obey her. 🤔
So a reverse old yeller?
Na, that would be the dog shooting her in the face. We could only be so lucky.
I saw this last night scrolling through YouTube and only read the top line… “shot and killed” WHAT?!? … then read the second line. Still, WTF?!
“I hated that dog,” Noem writes, deeming her “untrainable.”
Sounds sane to me. Hating animals is cool.
I have a pretty close to untrainable dog (she basically flunked out of obedience training) because she’s incredibly stubborn and I still love her with all of my heart.
It’s a shame, because she was white and attractive, so she met the republican criteria for a female candidate. Unfortunately she forgot the secret criteria of being quiet and repeating what the man says.
This will never age well. Begin precipitous political decline.
Actual psychopath behavior. Bet she’s going to wonder why her kids despise her.
I killed my dog. I adopted him at 6 years old at the shelter. He was incredibly abused, malnourished and pitiable. That’s not why I adopted him. Honestly, I didn’t adopt him. He adopted me. My kids and I had spent all day at the shelter looking for a dog to adopt, and hadn’t found any dog that fit with us. The last dog that we were going to see that day was a terribly skinny black chihuahua who was absolutely terrified of all people. The shelter staff told us that he would immediately curl up in the farthest possible corner and that we shouldn’t approach him, as he would bite. So the kids and I of course accepted that and settled together on the stone bench in the visiting room. They brought the dog in, who was visibly shaking and terrified. They let him off his leash and left the room. I knew there was nothing we could do to make him comfortable so we started talking about some school stuff and generally just ignoring him.
Suddenly I felt a weight on my lap. I looked down, and this tiny shaking dog was on my lap just looking up at me. I slowly approached him with my hand and he let me pet him. He licked my hand and just looked at me with those trusting eyes.
I didn’t adopt that dog, he adopted me.
Fast forward 10 years, and he was spry as fuck at 16 years old. We moved states and he loved where we moved. We went hiking, we went to teh beach, we saw waterfalls, we saw all sorts of things. He would leap for joy all the time, he knew I loved him, and I knew he loved me.
One day in spring last year, he stopped eating. He stopped pooping and just… shut down. I could not get him to eat or drink or anything. I took him to the vet and the prognosis was that they could maybe prolong his life for a few months, but it would be intrusive and frankly, from the description, absolutely awful for him.
I thought about having the vet put him to “sleep” but I didn’t like that either. He didn’t deserve to be injected with strange drugs in a strange place by strangers. I chose to take him home, give him a rather large dose of xanax and smother him with my hand while telling him what an amazing boy he was.
I killed my dog, and I don’t regret it. He knew how much I loved him from the first time he saw me to the last time.
I’m really sorry for your loss. The worst thing about pets is that we usually outlive them. I’ve had to lose two dogs now, both thankfully making it to 14. I rescued them when they didn’t have a loving home and gave one to them. When I did take them to the vet and had them put down, it was incredibly difficult and heartbreaking but one had issues like yours and the other just gave up on life and was ready to go. I miss both of them terribly, but you and I did it because we loved them. She did it because she’s incapable of love.
Edit: Also, what the fuck is wrong with the six people (so far) who have downvoted you for telling a heartfelt story about losing a dog you loved? Shame on all six of you.
I think it’s the smothering that’s bringing in the downvotes. A shot to the back of the head would have been more humane.
Oh shit, I just re-read it. I think I misread ‘smothering’ as ‘stroking’ and thought he just let the dog die of a Xanax OD. I wouldn’t call that the most sensible way to euthanize a dog, but I doubt it would have been too terrible as a way to go out. But to smother it as well? Never mind, shame on OP.
He was entirely insensate, and was effectively sedated. I don’t own a gun, and gently smothering him was the only thing I could think to do without causing pain. I’m sorry you feel that way.
You don’t know that you didn’t cause him any pain just because he appeared to be sedated enough.
Absolute psychopathic behaviour.
“Ooo cant let the vets put sCaRy ChEmiCaLs into my literally dying dog. ill just SMOTHER HIM TO DEATH. Thats a much better way to go.”
edit. Also, “strange chemicals” and then gives his dog xanax. Dude. Really. You swapped chemical A for chemical B. Crazy mental gymnastics.
Is she outside the statute of limitations for animal cruelty?
It’s South Dakota. I’m guessing shooting your dog doesn’t count as animal cruelty there.
Fully grown Dog abortion is A-OK!
So how deep is this gravel pit? I assume she had to wack the dog with a 2x4 or a framing hammer? Or maybe she tied him up and ran him over… that’s a very hard decision. There are harder ways. Like a small hatchet with a dull edge…you know like the French realty, lots of bone crackling and a big bloody mess? No thanks!
No thanks a lot! I’m vegan. We believe in reducing and eliminating animal torture.
The quoted text from the article says she was coming back from training the dog for pheasant hunting. Seems a safe bet she shot it.
Oh I missed that part. Yup that’s most logical.
Oh? Are you a vegan? Really?
How interesting.
