Swirl’s Views on Cricket’s Demise

Swirl has a thing or two to say about South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem shooting her dog, but he’s too busy pacing in anticipation of the big storm that is coming. He just can’t sit down long enough to collect his thoughts.

Earlier today, at the dog park, Swirl tried to shake off his disgust by eating small pieces of mulch and once, just for a short while, chewing on a branch still attached to a tree. I believe it’s a stress management technique from ancient sled dog times, probably stemming from the initial, very harrowing trip across the Bering Strait and may explain why there are no trees way up there in Alaska.

In all the hubbub about Governor Noem shooting her dog, named Cricket (who could shoot a creature with such an adorable name?), the fact that she also shot a goat she didn’t like gets overlooked. I’ve only known one goat, named Willy, who roamed around a friend’s horse farm pretty much like a dog would. Even if Willy had been completely evil, I can’t imagine someone leading him down to the family’s gravel pit and putting a bullet (actually a couple of bullets) through his skull. But then we don’t live in South Dakota.

Swirl agrees. He’s lived his life as a peacemaker and abhors all violence, except to inanimate objects like towels and newspapers. Obviously, I am anthropomorphizing here, attributing human emotions and reactions to a dog. But, in my defense, I know Swirl very well, having lived practically every minute with him for five years and, on top of that, Swirl has channeled his unique voice and perspective through me on several occasions via this very blog.

Swirl didn’t authorize this opinion piece, but he would have if the storm hadn’t taken all his attention.