On This Business of Shooting Your Dog

The horrified reaction to Kristi Noem’s anecdote about shooting one of her hunting dogs is interesting - though I offer no opinion on the shooting itself. But because it illustrates so perfectly how being sheltered from the world of agriculture affects one’s thinking about animals. Farmers and ranchers, in my experience, have a far more utilitarian view of animals than is typical of people outside of that world. Effete Westerners have developed such a Disney-esque sentimentality about animals that some of them are consciously choosing to have pets instead of children. When they talk of their “fur babies,” they’re not being facetious.

I was at a July 4th gathering once, at a friend’s small ranch. My friend and his family (wife + 2 boys) raised a small herd of beef cattle. During the party, a large stray dog got into the pasture where his cattle were grazing and the dog was getting a great deal of pleasure out of chasing the cattle around the pasture. But it was extremely hot, and the cattle were dangerously stressed. The dog’s behavior was harming the cattle and the economic prospects of my friend and his family. When the dog continued to come back and chase the cattle, even after being run off a couple of times, my friend loaded up his shotgun during the middle of the party, walked out into the pasture in full view of all of his guests, and shot the dog. That wasn’t his first choice, but he certainly didn’t hesitate.

I had another friend who was a commercial pig farmer and he would routinely and proactively kill young piglets who were not thriving alongside their siblings. He simply couldn’t accommodate the needs of the frail ones.

I’m not suggesting an equivalence between my friends’ actions and Noem’s decision to shoot her own dog. I’m simply observing that people who inhabit the agricultural world, as Noem has, can operate with an unsentimental perspective regarding animals - that animals exist to serve the purposes of their human owners. Such a utilitarian view can shock the sensibilities of people whose primary contact with animals has been cuddling their family pets and watching Disney nature movies.

Perhaps one of the things which has been most interesting to watch has been the general uniformity of the indignant response from both the left (where you would expect it) and the right (where it has come as slightly more of a surprise, to me at least).