South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has no regrets about shooting her 14-month-old puppy Cricket, she told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union” Sunday. “That story is a 20-year-old story of a mom who made a very difficult decision to protect her children from a vicious animal that was attacking livestock and killing livestock and attacking people,” Noem said.
Noem, who’s been on the shortlist for a potential role as Donald Trump’s running mate, added that the story is “in the book because it was difficult for me, and there’s a lot in that book that I think people need to read.”
Bash pressed further and asked Noem if she has any regrets about sharing the story to begin with, or about shooting the dog. Noem didn’t directly answer the question, but replied, “We’ve covered this, and I’m a mom and protected my children from a vicious animal.”
“We just had a 9-year-old boy in South Dakota killed just days ago from a dog,” Noem continued. “That happens and that 9-year-old boy will never be in his parents’ lives again. He’ll never be in his family’s lives again. I think people are put in tough situations in life and we learn from it.”
Noem did not name the 9-year-old boy in the interview. In late May, authorities at the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota said a boy of the same age was mauled to death by a pack of feral dogs.
Noem began fielding questions about Cricket ahead of her book’s release in early May. At the time, she described the dog as “extremely dangerous” and said, “It had come to us from a family who had found her way too aggressive.”
“I hated that dog,” she also wrote, adding that Cricket was “less than worthless … as a hunting dog.”
In a tweet posted on April 28, Noem noted that when she killed Cricket, she “followed the law and was being a responsible parent, dog owner, and neighbor.” At the time, she did not assert that Cricket’s death took place because she was protecting her children.
Noem also killed a goat she disliked the same day she shot Cricket, later defending herself by adding that she had recently put down three horses from the same farm. As Seth Meyers put it, “Way to change the narrative! Yeah, I killed the dog, but in my defense, also three horses. Sleep with your eyes open, donkey!”
You can watch the exchange between Dana Bash and Kristi Noem in the video above.
