Aside from Trump, Kristi Noem has become one of the most divisive, if not hated, figures in America. She is often portrayed as a loyal subordinate to Trump, and her latest stance on the Epstein files has made her even more unpopular. Many people have criticized her both online and in real life. Recently, however, people in Illinois found a new way to condemn her in the form of a dog memorial.
Kristi Noem has an infamous record of killing her own dog after she deemed her pet untrainable and aggressive. She said that her dog was named Cricket and that it was a 14-month-old wirehair pointer. She initially obtained Cricket to use her to hunt pheasant. Due to the dog’s young age, it was understandably very excited. Kristi Noem decided to let Cricket run alongside older dogs in hopes that it would calm down. However, unsurprisingly, Cricket did not calm down and instead chased the birds blindly in excitement. Kristi Noem then tried to use an electronic collar to control the dog.
Later, an incident occurred where the dog escaped from her car and attacked a local family’s chickens. Having had enough, Kristi Noem shot Cricket and threw the dog into a gravel pit. As for why she later spoke publicly about this story, she apparently believed it would show the world that she was not afraid of getting her hands dirty to get things done. Instead, the story has continued to follow her and has now resurfaced in the form of a dog memorial in Illinois. Many people have criticized her for cruelty and animal abuse. The Illinois memorial also featured numerous dog toys covered in fake blood, with their heads modified to appear as if the dogs had been shot in the head.
The existence of this Illinois memorial has drawn the attention of the internet. Many agreed that Kristi Noem should not be forgiven for her actions against what they described as a young and innocent dog. “RIP Cricket,” one user said. Another wrote, “Not gonna lie, stuff like this always gets me a little. People can say what they want, but dogs really do mean that much to some of us.”
Of course, there were also those who defended Kristi Noem, arguing that killing dogs is not something new and has happened many times in the past. They saw the Illinois dog memorial as a strange obsession that people have toward her.“People have their pets put down all the time. What’s wrong with Kristi putting her own dog down that was violent? People have been doing this for hundreds of years,” one commenter said.
Others pushed back, saying that the issue was how Kristi Noem publicly described shooting her own dog. Some argued that the Illinois memorial serves as a reminder directed at Kristi Noem and as criticism of what they see as a troubling mindset among certain people in power.
