By taking Cricket on a pheasant hunt with older dogs, Noem says, she hoped to calm the young dog down and begin to teach her how to behave. Unfortunately, Cricket ruined the hunt, going “out of her mind with excitement, chasing all those birds and having the time of her life”.
“I hated that dog,” Noem writes, adding that Cricket had proved herself “untrainable”, “dangerous to anyone she came in contact with” and “less than worthless … as a hunting dog”.
“At that moment,” Noem says, “I realised I had to put her down.”
Nope. No sale, sister.
It’s not because my winsome dog Sparky has turned me into a bleeding heart.
I understand that some dogs are vicious. Some dogs have to be put down, and as a practical matter, in a rural setting, the owner does the wet work.
Several aspects of Kristi Noem’s account are disturbing.
As a rising star in conservative circles, she decided to put this account in her book. Why? She is trying to send a message that she thinks will be appealing to voters.
Noem “hated that dog”. That is an emotional response that shouldn’t be used to justify a killing. If the dog had to be put-down, it should be related in a clinical and detached manner.
The dog was 14 months old. Puppy brain lingers until a dog is a few years old. It may be routine to start training a dog for hunting at such a young age, but many dogs must fail that test. If that proves the dog will be untrainable for hunting, surely the dog retains some value. Give the dog away or keep it as a pet.
I use traditional mouse traps. I don’t celebrate a mouse with a snapped neck or brag about my trapping prowess. Mice are free to live in the wood pile or make a nest in the woods. A mouse invading my home has crossed the line and forfeited the right to live unchallenged.
Deer hunting is a subject about which I’ve posted. Deer in our area live a blessed life. They have no predators and freely roam, devouring our landscaping. I have passed on many deer that were too small or presented only a marginal target. I only take a clean shot and eat what I kill. It is exciting to shoot a deer, but it’s adrenaline, not blood lust. I don’t mount the heads, but do have an antler mount. I’m not nuts about those photos that hunters take with the deer’s tongue hanging out and the visible blood.
Noem demonstrates bad judgment for not realizing that her story is appalling and for the actions she took with regard to the puppy.
