Meghan McCain calls Kristi Noem's killing dog 'serial killer' behavior

Referring to Kristi Noem's admission that she shot and killed a 14-month-old puppy on her ranch, Meghan McCain tweeted (and then edited) a very pointed message on Sunday.

“My family has a ranch outside of Sedona – no one has ever shot a dog for any reason,” she wrote. “It’s not a thing. The ashes of my father's dog, Burma, lie on our family mantle after he died of natural causes. What I know is that killing and torturing animals is a trait of a serial killer.”

McCain then edited the tweet five times before landing on the version that stuck.

“This isn't a 'rural/ranch' thing,” she added. While she kept most of her comments, she corrected a typo – deleting the reference to “serial killers” and changing it to: “This story is something out of a horror movie.”

The changes are all available in her tweet story.

Last week, Noem sparked an outcry after the Guardian revealed that she had shot Cricket, her 14-month-old dog, in an excerpt from her upcoming book. Noem took the dog on a pheasant hunt with older dogs to teach her the ropes, but instead Cricket was “crazy with excitement, chasing all these birds and having the time of her life.” On the way home, Cricket got out of Noem's truck and reached out a family's flock of chickens.

“I hated that dog,” she wrote, describing Cricket as “less than worthless… as a hunting dog,” before adding, “At that moment I realized I had to put her down.” Noem quickly followed suit, killing another domesticated animal, a goat, who was often mean to her children.

Given the public's love of animals, especially dogs, Noem's admission set off a somewhat predictable firestorm of condemnation. She tried to defend herself on Sunday and tweeted“I can understand why some people are upset about a 20-year-old story about Cricket, one of the working dogs on our ranch, in my upcoming book, No Going Back. The book is filled with many honest stories from my life, good days and bad days, challenges, painful decisions and lessons learned.”

“What I have learned from my years in public service, particularly from leading South Dakota through COVID, is that people are looking for leaders who are authentic, willing to learn from the past and will not shy away from difficult challenges.” , she continued. “I hope that everyone who reads this book understands that I am always working to make the best decisions possible for the people in my life.”

“The fact is that South Dakota law states that dogs that attack and kill livestock can be euthanized. Given that Cricket had shown aggressive behavior towards people by biting them, I decided what I did,” Noem asserted, remaining true to her decision.

“Whether I'm running the ranch or working in politics, I've never passed on my responsibilities to anyone else. Even if it is hard and painful. I followed the law and was a responsible parent, dog owner and neighbor. As I explained in the book, it wasn't easy. But often the easy way is not the right way,” Noem concluded.

Noem is scheduled to be interviewed on “Face the Nation” next Sunday to promote her book.

The hashtag #PuppyKiller began trending on X (formerly known as Twitter) on Sunday. People filled the hashtag with photos of their own dogs.

Noem's confession has also sparked interest in South Dakota's dog-killing laws. Law 40-34-1 states: “It shall be lawful for anyone to kill a dog that preys on, disturbs, injures, or kills poultry or domestic animals, except on the premises of the owner of the dog or dogs.”