South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) wrote a book in which she briefly described killing a dog she owned that killed critters and generally misbehaved. Folks want to make a big deal about that, especially animal lovers. Political mavens say her admission put paid to her hopes to be Trump's VP choice.
Why do you suppose Noem wrote what she did? The behavior she described is more or less routine in rural areas. Bad dogs get put down.
How do you suppose wolf puppies eventually evolved to be our loyal, loving companions? Because of human-aided natural selection. Our ancestors killed those canines that acted too wolfish, kept and nurtured those which demonstrated some willingness to be our sidekicks.
Many hundreds of dog generations later, we have lap dogs, racing dogs, working dogs, herding dogs, guide dogs, guard dogs and sled dogs. They come in all sizes, many body types and sizes, exhibit a range of selected-for behaviors, etc. Many seniors treat a dog as a surrogate grandchild.
In essence we created dogs out of an existing species - wolves - which had pack instincts somewhat compatible with co-habitation with humans. Wolf packs have alpha leaders which the others follow, their domesticated descendants have transferred that loyalty to a human leader.
If you grew up in a rural area, as Noem did, you'd consider her behavior close to routine. Dogs which kill stock get killed, preferably by their owner, but sometimes by the owner of whatever livestock was killed.
I know this because I grew up in a rural area. My uncle who lived nearby raised turkeys commercially, he wouldn't have hesitated shooting a dog he caught killing his birds.
