Kristi Noem blames 'fake news' for the outrage over shooting dog Cricket who 'wasn't a puppy' and was 'put down' because she killed livestock

Kristi Noem is still doubling down on defending her decision to shoot dead her 14-month-old puppy Cricket and is upping the rhetoric about how 'extremely dangerous' the dog was.

Speaking with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Wednesday night, the South Dakota Governor claimed that it was most safe to kill the dog because there were 'small kiddos' on the farm that were at risk.

Noem, 52, confessed in her upcoming book to killing her family farm dog while her kids were at school. The excerpt was immediately picked up and was viewed and shared widespread online – essentially tanking the Republican's chances of being selected as Donald Trump's vice presidential candidate.

In her latest defense of her actions, Noem claimed the wirehaired pointer was 'a working dog…not a puppy.'

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said 'fake news' is to blame for the outrage over her story about shooting and killing her 14-month-old puppy Cricket because she was 'untrainable' and 'extremely dangerous'

She detailed to Hannity that Cricket came to her from another family that 'found her way too aggressive.'

Noem said that the dog 'massacred livestock' and 'attacked me.' Hannity agreed with Noem that 'dogs that are violent sometimes have to be put down'

'The reason it's in the book is because this book is filled with tough, challenging decisions I've had to make throughout my life,' the governor explained when asked why she decided to bring the controversial story to light.

She added: 'The point of this story is most politicians, they will run from the truth, they will shy away and hide from making tough decisions. I don't do either of those.'

The excerpt about Cricket's killing was first published by The Guardian last week. Noem wrote in her book that the puppy was 'untrainable' and had killed a neighbor's chicken.

'I hated that dog,' she wrote, adding Cricket was 'less than worthless…as a hunting dog'.

Noem wrote about how she decided to 'put her down' by taking Cricket to a gravel pit and shooting her.

Many animal rights activists claim the right thing to do would be to re-home or surrender the dog to a shelter where there may have been resources to properly train Cricket and give her to a family without children or livestock.

An excerpt published from Noem's upcoming book reveals the governor 'put down' their family dog by taking her to a gravel pit and shooting her while the kids were at school

Noem claims outrage over the story of Cricket was sparked by 'fake news,' which she claims left out 'some or most of the facts' and 'put the worst spin on it.'

She urged people to buy the book themselves to read the whole story.

The book No Going Back: The Truth on What's Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward will hit shelves on May 7 but has already stirred plenty of conversation and controversy surrounding the South Dakota governor.