In her self-serving diatribe-ridden memoir Kristi Noem relates how she put down a young dog that she had trouble training. The canine was 14 months old, not yet full-grown, and had acted erratically on a hunt, then, while Noem stopped to chat with a neighbor on the way home, “escaped” from the truck to attack and kill chickens.[1] The former Governor and present empresses of rabid deportation was anything but apologetic about her actions during the situation.
Exactly how does an animal the owner believes to be uncontrollable escape from a vehicle – was it able to break free from fetters or crash through a window in a manner that could be ascribed to the legendary Fenrir? Or maybe, Noem simply was not attending to the possibility of danger.
In most jurisdictions, dog owners bear primary responsibility for their pets’ actions. This responsibility extends to:
Leash Laws and Control: Owners are typically required to adhere to leash laws and maintain control of their dogs in public spaces. …
Preventing Harm: Owners must take reasonable precautions to prevent their dogs from causing harm to others. This includes training, proper containment.[2]
No matter. Noem decided the cursed cur needed to die and describes the killing with pride as an illustration of her willingness take on unpleasant tasks when they are necessary.[3] After all, a woman has to do what a woman has to do.
With that bit of unpleasantry behind her, Noem goes on to tell how she immediately turned to taking out an uncastrated Billy goat on her ranch for the unpardonable misdemeanors of smelling foul and chasing children. She does not bother to explain why the animal was free to commit such offenses without being placed in a pen or tethered, or, for that matter, why it had never been fixed. Noem apparently simply believes that animals need to behave in a certain manner, without any preventative measures on the part of their caretaker(s) and if a beast fails to live up to civilized standards it should be summarily executed.
Amazonian figure though she may be, Noem was unable to cleanly kill the loathsome goat and left it wounded in a gravel pit as she went to retrieve ammunition after her first shot.[4] Well, preparation is plainly not Noem’s strong suit as she has demonstrated in testimony before Congress. “… Habeus corpus is a constitutional right that the President has to be able to remove people from this country,” [5] she said in all sincerity when a Senator asked for a definition of the legal term cited in the Section 9 of The Constitution. Huh?
Recently, Noem found it necessary to take down the Senior Senator from California, Alex Padilla, because he dared to attend a press conference and, horrifically, had the effrontery to ask a question. By doing so, the lawmaker, as far as Noem and her federal agents were concerned, had exhibited the kind of aberrant behavior manifested by excitable dogs or, worse, by smelly male goats, and so needed to be held on the floor by a bevy of officers and have his limbs rendered immobile by handcuffs. Noem could have stopped the restraint at any moment, but chose to ignore it.[6]
Later, Padilla said rhetorically, “If this is how this administration responds to a senator with a question, I can only imagine what they are doing to farmworkers, to cooks, to day laborers throughout the Los Angeles community.”[7]
Well, after all, tyrants have to do what they have to do and active inquiry is akin to the unleashed instincts of animals and if the questioner is not trainable, s/he will be restrained and, presumably, if necessary, put away.
[1] Kristi Noem, No Going Back: The Truth on What's Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward (New York, NY: Center Street Publishing, 2024) as summarized and quoted by Martin Pengelly, “Trump VP Contender Kristi Noem Writes of Killing Dog – And Goat – In New Book,” Guardian, April 26, 2024, https://www.theguardian .com/books/2024/apr/26/trump-kristi-noem-shot-dog-and-goat-book.
[2] LaMarca Law Group, P.C., “Who Is Responsible For Dog Attacks?” posted February 4, 2024, https://www .youriowalawyers.com/blog/2024/february/who-is-responsible-for-dog-attacks-/.
[3] Noem, No Going Back, as summarized and quoted by Pengelly, “Trump VP Contender.”
[5] ABC News, “Kristi Noem Incorrectly Defines Habeas Corpus During Hearing,” YouTube, posted three weeks prior to June 15, 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_UIbsre2cY.
[6] KTLA 5, “Full Video: U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla Forcefully Removed from Noem News Conference, Handcuffed,” YouTube, posted three days prior to June 15, 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNjBbTr9bCw.
[7] Krysta Fauria, Olga R. Rodriguez, and John Seewer, “Homeland Security Secretary Pledges to Carry on with Trump’s Immigration Crackdown,” Associated Press, updated June 12, 2025, https://apnews.com/article/los-angeles-protests-ice-national-guard-1009eac191a8f6248463a5028cbe0f68.
