Noem reported that the puppy was disobedient and out “having the time of her life” during a pheasant hunting trip and that the animal later attacked and killed a neighbor's chickens.

The ill-fated Cricket proved not to be a bad hunter, after all, but was guilty of killing the wrong kind of bird. According to Noem, since a shock collar didn't instill the desired discipline, the only reasonable thing to do was to kill the excitable and “untrainable” pup.

Noem, who became governor in 2019, likened murdering her canine to having the ability and willingness in politics to do anything “difficult, messy, and ugly.” It’s not the only animal she chose to sacrifice that day, she wrote: "​​I realized another unpleasant job needed to be done.”

This just about adults in the room getting the job done

Through it all, Noem says, Cricket was “the picture of pure joy”.

“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”.