I grew up in the south. I have heard countless stories about killlng dogs who don’t perform well on a hunt. This is how conservatives brag about how little empathy they have, because they see empathy as weakness. They use these stories to show that they are happy to kill anything for any reason. This kind of story is so common here that happily killing animals seems fundamental to being a conservative.
I assure you, his base is in no way offended by her story of killing a puppy.