Kristi Noem and Her Dog

5/10/24 — A postscript to the below post. RFK Jr., the “other” candidate for the presidency, recently announced his support for the abortion of full-term infants. Yep, it’s OK to slaughter the little human beings whom God created in His image and likeness. And yet we hear almost nothing about this from the mainstream media or the nattering social media crowd. These and too many others are more upset about Governor Noem’s shooting a dog 20 years ago. What are the moral priorities of a nation in which so many are far more concerned about the death of a dog than the premeditated murder of millions of innocent children?

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I expect that much of what I write in this post will make many folks here in The Villages all aflutter. In truth, though, I don’t care…so here goes, 

Let me begin by saying I’m a dog person and have lived with dogs most of my life, dogs that represented a variety of breeds: Boston Bulldog: German Shepherd; three Weimaraners; Samoyed; Shetland Sheepdog; and Bichon Frise. Let me also assert that, despite what the so-called experts say, not every dog is trainable. As one vet told me, “Some dogs just have a few mental wrinkles that can’t be ironed out. You can ease the problems with good training, but you never know if they’ll arise under certain conditions.”

A lot of people seem very upset because twenty years ago S. Dakota Governor Noem shot a dog that was not only untrainable but had also proven to a danger to man and beast alike. Most of those who fret and wring their hands over the governor’s act have never set foot on a farm or ranch and don’t understand that for many country folk dogs are often working animals. If a dog makes a habit of killing livestock and other farm critters, if it attacks people, and if it cannot be trained to do otherwise, it simply has to go. 

A few years ago I met a man in West Texas who had a huge dog in the back of his pickup. He thought it was part German Shepherd and part Bull Mastiff — as I said, a very big dog. In his words, “He seems to have a bit of blood-lust. At night he roams pretty freely on our ranch, and I have to keep him away from the calves. But if a deer enters our property — it’s  a few hundred acres — that dog knows it and that deer is dead. He’s the only dog I’ve ever seen that can pull down a fullgrown deer and kill it. He’s okay with the family, because I guess we’re his pack, but when guests visit I have to put him in his shed. If he ever hurt a person I’d have to shoot him.” 

Right after we were married, well over 50 years ago, Diane and I ended up with a large, male Weimaraner. How we got this dog is another story. Anyway, thanks to the Navy we found ourselves in San Diego, and for the next few years I spent a lot of time at sea. The dog seemed to be good protection for Diane, but over time we discovered he had more than a few problems. He was overprotective, destroyed all our furniture, and was overly aggressive around other humans, so when Diane was expecting our first child, we decided he had to go. This was not a friendly dog, and I worried about him attacking guests, or Diane, or the baby when she arrived. Quite honestly, I thought about doing what the governor did, but figured in Southern California they’d lock me up. So, we tried to find him a new home. We succeeded in giving him to a family that lived on a ranch in northern San Diego county. Within a few months they wanted to return him, but we refused (the baby had arrived). We’re pretty certain they placed him in an ASPCA shelter where he was no doubt euthanized. 

My dogs (with this one exception) were all well-trained animals and a comfort to our family. They were not working dogs — hunters, shepherds, etc. — but were family pets. We cared for them and they cared for us in their own unique way. But they were all very different and displayed their affection in varying ways. 

And yet, as you might expect, I have no problem with the governor’s dispatching her dog. If you’re one of those folks who places dogs and spiders and aardvarks and cows and lions and tigers and bears all on the same value level as human beings, we have a philosophical and theological obstacle to further discussion. You might object to the means she used to dispatch the dog, but it was probably far more humane and quicker than many other means.

Right-handed Privilege?

Did you catch the news about the presentation at UNC Chapel Hill that stressed the horrors resulting from our right-handed society? Apparently Christina Parle, who has an MS in something and works for the university’s Social Responsibility office, gave the lecture on behalf of the school’s Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life. Now, supposing that those fraternity and sorority members who attended the lecture were actually sober, I expect they were shocked by Ms. Parle’s comments. After all, at least a few of those students who specialize in the Greek alphabet are probably left-handed. 

Ms. Parle, we are told, was explicit. Being right-handed enables one to use tools designed specifically for them. Life, therefore, is much easier for righties, an advantage that provides them with for more opportunity than those sinister lefties can ever hope to receive. She also implied that all those dexterous righties also possess a “sense of belonging” that the lefties lack. I guess there was a lot more, but I’ll openly confess I didn’t have the patience to sit there and watch it all. I have no idea if Ms. Parle is a physical lefty or righty, although we can all guess which side she’s on politically. 

Left-handers make up about 10% of the world’s population. The numbers, though, seem to be changing, if only slightly. In recent years the number of male lefties has increased by 2%, while females have remained about the same. No one knows why, although scientists who study such things (likely funded by government grants) believe it might be caused by hormonal, genetic, cultural, or societal factors. This explains a lot and we thank the scientists for publishing these guesses and the other results of their exhaustive research. Scientists, though, don’t limit their investigations to humans, but have also studied cats, dogs, and other of God’s creatures. Did you know that about 40% of cats and dogs are left-pawed? Why are almost half of our pets lefties while the vast majority of humans are righties? Once again, no one knows for sure. More research is surely called for here. There’s so much more to share with you, but I’ll let you examine the research yourselves. Here’s a link that will lead you the fascinating results of all these left-right studies: New Scientific Findings on Left-handedness.

As for me, I am completely left-handed. In fact, the only thing I do right-handed is shoot a rifle. As a ten-year-old I spent much of a summer at Camp Adahi in Union, Maine. Part of this highly traditional camp experience included learning to shoot a .22 bolt-action rifle. Because the bolt handle is on the right side, we all were told to shoot right-handed, and so I obeyed. It obviously didn’t cause me any real problems because I always managed to shoot well, and as a midshipman at the Naval Academy qualified as “expert” with both the formidable M1 garand and the .45 semiautomatic pistol. Anyway, I do everything else left-handed, except where right-handed tools and equipment force me to do otherwise. Unlike Ms. Parle, though, I have found this to be a real advantage. 

Because I am forced to use my right hand on so many occasions, I have actually become somewhat ambidextrous. For example, I spent many years as a Navy pilot, and the “stick” that controls an aircraft’s attitude is designed to be operated by the right hand. The left hand must be free to control many critical operations such as engine power, other control surfaces (flaps, etc.), radio communications, and navigation. At first, I found it odd to rely on my less dominant hand for the most critical part of flying, but I quickly learned to do so. Over time I saw this as a real benefit because I became increasingly comfortable using either hand for many daily activities. 

I also disagree with Ms. Parle’s belief that righties enjoy a sense of belonging not experienced by lefties. I believe exactly the opposite. Because we are a relatively small minority, we lefties tend to notice each other more readily and actually form a kind of bond unavailable to righties. I’ve never heard anyone, while watching another sign his name, say, “Oh, you’re right-handed!” Never happens, because rght-handed people are such a large majority, they rarely even notice each other. But just this morning, when visiting a neighbor in our local hospice facility, I had to sign in at the front desk when I arrived. As I began to write, the receptionist said, “Another lefty, like me. You’re the third this morning!” Trust me, right-handed people never say that about each other. Maybe this means we lefties are more likely to visit the sick — another area begging for research. 

It’s now pouring rain, accompanied by much lightning and thunder, and I have to leave in 20 minutes to conduct a graveside service at a cemetery in a neighboring town. Keep me in your prayers.

Blessings and God’s peace, to both the right-handed and left-handed.