Kirsti Noem blames ‘fake news’ for outrage over her killing her dog Cricket

South Dakota Gov Kristi Noem has blamed the “fake news” media forstirring up controversy over the killing of her young dog, which she detailed in her new memoir.

Ms Noem, who has been touted as a potential Donald Trump running mate in November, made yet another attempt to explain her putting down of 14-month-old “working dog” Cricket during an appearance on Fox News.

In the book, No Going Back, she writes that she killed the young animal after a pair of incidents in a single day wherein the dog ruined a pheasant hunt by eagerly chasing the birds, then “massacred” a neighbour’s chickens, killing several.

She tried further damage control during an interview with Sean Hannity on Wednesday when she tried to blame the media for the attention the incident was receiving.

“Well, Sean, you know how the fake news works. They leave out some or most of the facts of a story, they put the worst spin on it. And that’s what’s happened in this case,” Ms Noem told Hannity.

“I hope people really do buy this book and they find out the truth of the story because the truth of the story is that this was a working dog and it was not a puppy. It was a dog that was extremely dangerous.”

The governor went on to explain that her family had been the dog’s “second chance” after it had been rehomed once before due to aggression.

She also noted: “Virtually every state has a law in place that says the animals that attack and kill livestock can be put down in situations like this.”

The host, Sean Hannity, came to the governor’s defence and even seemed to suggest that President Joe Biden should have his dog Commander put down in a similar manner after a series of biting incidents.

Ms Noem has spent the past week in damage control mode over the