Not saying her actions are right, but I live in a rural area and people personally shooting their own dogs and other animals that are deemed a danger is pretty common. People often do it when the animals need to be euthanized for health reasons too.
I personally know lots of people who do this. I have plenty of family members who have done it.
Again, I don't think her actions were appropriate. I just want to point out how commonplace shooting ones own animals is (in some places) since a lot of people here seem totally unaware.
BS
I was born in SD. The only time that I saw a dog being shot was when it was rabid. There are humane ways of doing things. And Kriste lives in a mansion, not in a rural setting.
Just to reiterate, I'm not saying it's right. There are absolutely better ways of addressing these issues.
But I don't know what to tell you--I don't live far from SD and I have personally spoken to multiple people (face to face) that have done exactly what Kristi Noem described.
She didn't do it because the dog was sick or dangerous. She did it because she didn't care about it anymore. So, instead of giving it up for adoption, let's just shoot it!
This convo (though subject matter feels worse) seems similar to explaining the whole ivermectin thing to people calling it horse paste mockingly. Yes, using ivermectin as an unproven cure for covid is a bad idea, but no need to mock it with horse paste. Lots if rural and poor areas will use ivermectin from vet or farm supply shops and it is still useful in killing what it's meant to kill, such as those parasites that cause blindness in river water.
Rural places often don things that seem strange other places, and carrying out euthanasia yourself may be necessary or common in farming areas with little access to the same facilities urban and suburban people enjoy. It's probably easier on the mind of farm owners as they deal with animal death more often, and since even pets may end up seriously harmed by wild predators mercy killing probably happens too.
What background? The "that's how the rural people do it" background? Because that's also irrelevant. And she should know better anyway.
I grew up in a third world country. Cat calling women was the norm. I haven't cat-called a woman in decades. If I said "well, you know... that's normal in my culture, everyone does it" after being educated and reading a lot, then my background justification would be just bullshit.
It's not right. People that treat animals that way are not in rural areas with friends. Maybe you're living in an area where they do that sort of thing, and it's not met with scorn.