What does the Talmud say about Kristi Noem shooting her dog? – The Forward One

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem Courtesy of Getty Images

By Mira Vos
May 3, 2024

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem – who until recently was a frontrunner to join Donald Trump’s presidential bid as his running mate – is trying to show voters that she is not afraid of the ‘difficult, messy and ugly” parts of politics. To illustrate this, she tells a story in her upcoming book: that of shooting her hunting dog Cricket.

This, as anyone could have predicted, did not have the intended impact of showing Noem as a bold leader. Instead, even Donald Trump Jr., who has has shot many an endangered animal during his hunting trips he criticized the move.

Noem has engaged in a frantic press circuit to try to contain the story, apologizing for her actions where necessary. She explained that the 14 month old dog was ‘not a puppy’, and all that criticism of her decision to shoot Cricket is “fake news.”

Her reasons for shooting Cricket, according to the book, include that the puppy ruined a pheasant hunt by getting too excited about chasing the birds and that Cricket once tried to bite her. Noem also says that Cricket killed her neighbor’s chickens – something my friend’s puppy once did to his own chickens. (He didn’t shoot his dog.)

“I hated that dog,” Noem wrote. It turns out she also hated a buck she shot in a gravel pit next to Cricket. Her reasons for the goat were because it sometimes made her children’s clothes dirty and smelled “disgusting, musky and rancid.”

There are many generally accepted reasons for putting an animal to sleep, including illness and, yes, aggression, although the latter is controversial. Naturally occurring scent and hunting skills are not among them. And usually, killing an animal is accompanied by sadness, not bragging rights

The social taboo on cruelty to animals dates back to the time of the Talmud. According to Jewish texts, “unnecessary” cruelty to animals is forbidden – and kindness is even required. Animals, like humans, are forbidden to work on Shabbat; owners are required to feed their animals, whether pets or livestock, before sitting down for Shabbat dinner themselves.

While Noem could litigate whether her actions qualify as “unnecessary” cruelty, so too does the Talmud states that you should not own an animal unless you can properly care for and care for it.

Noem states in her book that she was Cricket’s second owner; another family had gotten rid of the dog because she was aggressive and difficult to control. Noem knew Cricket could be a handful when she adopted the dog, but she did so anyway, even though she was apparently unprepared to handle it.

Hunting dogs often have a strong prey drive, but they require effort to keep them under control. As is a slogan among many dog ​​lovers: there is no such thing as a bad dog, only bad owners.

Likewise, as someone who has worked on a goat farm, I can attest that male goats stink; they pee on their beards as part of their mating instinct, to spread their pheromones. But if you want a fresh-smelling pet, your job is not to get a goat – or probably a goat at all.

Noem doesn’t just have to worry about violating a code of ethics laid down by rabbis hundreds of years ago. Maybe she has that too has committed a crime in her home state.

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