Kristi Noem, a contender to become Republican Donald Trump'svice presidential running mate, defended herself on Friday against Democratic attacks over her account of shooting a dog on her family farm. Noem, the governor of South Dakota, describes killing an "untrainable" dog called Cricket which she "hated" in an upcoming memoir, excerpts of which were first published by The Guardian on Friday. Noem said the dog ruined a hunt and later attacked chickens owned by a local family, behaved like a "trained assassin," and was "dangerous to anyone she came in contact with."