Sorry for the late response. I know the topic is stale but personal issues delayed my response.
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Cheyenne posted:
Chuck, respectfully, who is doing the spinning? Her daughter may be a married adult now. This happened 20 years ago when Noem was 32. Did she have a married adult daughter at that time?
Response:
It wasn't spin, it was stupidity on my part. I got my time lines mixed up and my response to Scooby was inappropriate. I address that in my current post to him.
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Cheyenne posted:
Now, let's talk about the goat. She described it as being an uncastrated ill tempered male that smelled and was "Nasty." What did she expect from a goat? They are hilarious to watch and cute.
Response:
There is no reference as to why they had the goat in the first place and what they expected from it.
Farm animals are acquired to help the farm. They are not petting zoos.
When animals are no longer contributors, it is insane to keep them.
Farmers don't have the luxury of spending hours and resources tending to unproductive animals, no matter how cute or funny.
Putting down an animal is not a pleasant task. It is to Noem's credit that she took on the task and didn't delegate or pass the task to someone else.
I suspect her farming peers felt the same way.
She commented about the incident because, in the farming community, it is a virtue to take responsibility and and not kick problems down the road for others to contend with like professional politicians do.
She didn't anticipate the reactions of city folk who don't have experience with animals except for those who have a pet or two.
My opinion might be influenced because, when we had a dog, he had 100 acres available to roam.
To me, having a large dog with only a small yard is irresponsible.
(My wife and I have discussed this well before this incident, so I'm not just creating this view point for this discussion.)
There are different views between farmers and city folk as to what is considered cruel and necessary.
I feel sorry for the dog that is cooped up all day waiting for its jailer to take him for a walk that, of necessity, is limited by a leash.
We all have our own view as to what should be considered cruel.
Here's a comment from a site devoted to behavioral euthanasia
(https://k9infocus.com/losing-lulu/):
"As a founder of a rescue & longtime foster, it sounds cliche, but people are looking for a pet; not a project. It's neither fair nor ethical to put dangerous dogs out into the community. Every single time I can remember that we 'took a chance' on an iffy dog, the dog ended up ultimately euthanized anyway, but after causing a lot of physical and/or emotional damage to the family, both human and canine."
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Cheyenne posted:
You can blame this on media spin all you want. You can say that the posters here are falling for a narrative. But, it isn't the case. Every poster here is going by her own words.
Response:
Of course the posters here are falling for a narrative.
Most here think of the dog as an exuberant puppy and that Noem is a trigger-happy animal killer.
The three examples I provided in my first response to you shows how the MSM takes limited segments and creates their own narrative.
I have yet to see one mention about the dog's size in any accounts.
I've only seen one reference about the dog being rehomed to Noem because of its aggressive behavior.
The dog is often referred to as a puppy though she was old enough to have puppies herself.
The media would have you think shooting a dog is more cruel than dragging it to a strange place with strangers holding it down while while they euthanize it.
There is no mention of the fact that rehoming a chicken killer is virtually impossible where chickens are common.
There is no concern expressed about the danger of a dog that would turn on its owner.
The "own words" are carefully selected from several pages of text that can provide background, context, and justification.
