Kristi Noem's Unspeakable Cruelty Toward Puppy Has Me Fired Up & I Can't Stay Silent

If you're a dog lover, and really, who isn't? - you probably read the admission of what Kristi Noem, Governor of South Dakota, confessed to doing to her poor 14-month old Wirehaired Pointer puppy named Cricket in her upcoming book with abject horror. To paraphrase the entire awful ordeal (And possible Class 2 misdemeanor) Noem took her puppy hunting, who was obviously in need of more training and possibly reactive. When the pup misbehaved, Noem took her out to a gravel pit and killed her with a shotgun.

It's a horrible, awful, disgusting thing that should have never happened, and a lot of members of both political parties are reacting with horror. Which is why I'm asking you to do the only thing we can do in this situation, which is donate $14 (The age in months that Cricket was when she was killed) in Cricket's memory to your local Humane Society or animal shelter.

PetHelpful spoke with Sara Hirschfeld, former Animal Services Supervisor of The Animal Humane Society, who said:

"Shooting a dog is never an option. Especially a 14-month-old puppy who should have never been expected to act like a 'hunting dog' to begin with. Dogs are puppies until they are at least two-years-old. A puppy can master basic obedience commands like sit, stay, come and lie down but at this age they are still learning how to behave socially with humans and with other dogs. 

There are so many options to help reactive dogs! Contact your veterinarian, a dog trainer, an animal behaviorist - most Humane Societies and animal shelters have even have help lines available to help pet owners deal with any issue, medical or behavioral their pet is having. At the very least, she should have re-homed this poor dog." 

The National German Wirehaired Pointer Rescue group released this statement on Sunday.

I can't stop thinking about how terrified this poor puppy must have been, looking to the human who had vowed to be her guardian, who had taken her into her home and promised to raise her with care and affection, who was supposed to cherish her and love her with all the care that dogs deserve, only to be met with an inhumane death in a gravel pit.

My heart breaks for poor Cricket, which is why I'll be donating to my local Humane Society in her name. I hope you do, too.

Ways You Can Help Shelter Pets

If you don't wish to make a monetary donation to your local animal shelter, there are so many other ways you are needed!

Shelters are usually in need of donations like old towels, blankets, unused cleaning products and pet supplies like cat litter.

Most shelters need volunteers for just about anything you can think of. You can clean cages, you can volunteer to walk dogs, and with kitten season here, a lot of shelters need foster homes willing to bottle feed abandoned kittens.

Some shelters have programs where you can take dogs on field trips or for over night slumber parties so they can have human socialization.

Contact your local Humane Society or animal rescue to find out how you can help.

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