Governor Kristi Noem of South Dakota, a Republican, utilized social media on Friday to respond to critiques regarding a contentious section in her upcoming book, “No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward.”

Taking to X (formerly known as Twitter), Noem addressed an article published by The Guardian and provided an explanation for a particular passage in her book that discusses the euthanization of a 14-month-old dog.

Noem’s upcoming book, scheduled for release in May 2024, received a preview from the British outlet. The passages in which Noem recounts the incident of shooting her dog, Cricket, were specifically highlighted by the outlet. According to the outlet, the governor explained that while hunting pheasants to promote calm and discipline, Cricket became overly excited and disrupted the activity by chasing the birds. Noem’s attempts to control the dog using verbal commands and an electronic collar were reportedly unsuccessful.

The situation took a turn for the worse when Cricket allegedly escaped from Noem’s truck and killed several chickens owned by a local family. Noem, characterizing the dog as acting like “a trained assassin,” met with the distressed chicken owner, compensated them for their loss, and assisted in cleaning up, as reported by The Guardian.

In her book, Noem supposedly depicted the dog as “the epitome of pure joy” amidst the chaos; however, ultimately, Cricket was deemed “untrainable” and a threat to others. “At that moment, I realized I had to euthanize her,” Noem penned, as cited by The Guardian. “It was a difficult task, but it was necessary.”