Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, widely speculated to be among presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump’s top choices as a running mate, has long attracted criticism from the Democratic Party.

A new revelation included in her soon-to-be-released memoir, however, has opened her up to opprobrium from across the political spectrum.

Noem wrote that she fatally shot a family pet when it failed to live up to her expectations and was “less than worthless … as a hunting dog.”

“Cricket was a wirehair pointer, about 14 months old,” the governor wrote in “No Going Back: The Truth On What’s Wrong With Politics And How We Move America Forward,” complaining that the dog was “untrainable” and, in her opinion, deserved to be put down. 

The book also details her decision to fatally shoot one of her family’s goats for being “nasty and mean.”

When an excerpt from the book surfaced recently, the backlash was swift and severe, with several trending social media hashtags denouncing her decision. A number of her fellow governors participated by sharing photos of their own pets.

“Post a picture of your dog that doesn’t involve shooting them and throwing them in a gravel pit,” wrote Democratic Govs. Tim Walz of Minnesota, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Phil Murphy of New Jersey as the captions of their respective posts.

Noem attempted to blunt the criticism with a post of her own that described her decision not as a heartless act but as evidence of her ability to respond to “tough challenges.”

I can understand why some people are upset about a 20 year old story of Cricket, one of the working dogs at our ranch, in my upcoming book — No Going Back. The book is filled with many honest stories of my life, good and bad days, challenges, painful decisions, and lessons…

— Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) April 28, 2024

Of course, with much of the opprobrium coming from within her own party, the controversy is not likely to dissipate any time soon.

Laura Loomer, a pro-Trump pundit, opined that Noem’s chances of earning a position on the former president’s 2024 ticket has essentially evaporated.

“She can’t be VP now,” Loomer wrote. “You can’t shoot your dog and then be VP.”

While evidence of supportive comments were few and far between, some sources took a more nuanced position — including pro-life website LifeNews.

“If only people hated Planned Parenthood for killing babies as much as they hate Kristi Noem for killing a dog,” the outlet wrote.