“The Killing Field” is the most sickening, repulsive story I have heard in a long time [August 2008]. These young men are “good kids”? I do not think so. I promise you, we will hear of these boys again, and it will not be about their good works.
Mary Louise Dickehut
Del Rio

It’s absurd that big-city dwellers, championed by the people at PETA, have felt so compelled to demonize these four kids, categorizing them with serial killers and murdering felons. PETA would have you think that West Texas deer should be treated as if they were sacred cows. These boys, who admitted their wrongdoing and accepted their punishment, should be able to move on without this incident hounding them. Enough already!
Chris Edwards
West Plano

Keying a car is stupid. Clubbing a mailbox is stupid. Cow tipping is stupid. I would say beating two trapped deer to death with a bat goes a little further than “stupid.” Do not try to equate the premeditated torturing and killing of animals with the impulsive high jinks of youth.
Abra Beth Garrett
Dallas

Our forefathers, in their wisdom, decided long ago that we be tried by a jury of our peers. Neither I nor PETA is a peer of the boys in Iraan. I have full confidence that the people of Iraan are wise enough to determine the appropriate response to the boys’ actions. Thank goodness I grew up before the Internet or I may have been just as infamous.
Steve Horton
Longview

Here’s a wake-up call for you, Iraan: Good kids don’t entertain themselves with acts of cruelty.
R. J. Johnson
Spring

I really must correct the mother quoted in the story who thinks that all the firestorm is due to people who live in places like New York City who just don’t understand small-town Texans. I am a small-town, lifelong Texan, and I don’t know anyone who would think this was a harmless killing.
Melissa Newcomb
Hempstead

Skip Hollandsworth’s thoughtful piece on the West Texas boys who trapped two deer in a bull pen and returned to bludgeon the animals to death couldn’t answer the basic question of why these ostensibly fine young men would act so sadistically. Perhaps that question just doesn’t have an answer. What is clear, however, is that this was never a hunting violation, which is what the boys were charged with. It was animal cruelty.

Just to be sure, on learning the facts of the case, 112th judicial district attorney Laurie English requested an opinion from Texas attorney general Greg Abbott, asking whether the deer in this case were covered under the Texas animal cruelty law. On July 14, Mr. Abbott affirmed that the deer were indeed protected by the statute. By all accounts, these young men were model citizens before and have been since their awful actions that day in December.

The Humane Society of the United States in no way wishes to suggest that these boys are going to grow up to be violent criminals. But statistically, they are far more likely to do so than their peers who have not abused animals. So why not take the opportunity to intervene in their lives now, to determine if they need psychological help and then get them that help if it’s warranted?
Jay Sabatucci
Texas State Director, the Humane Society of the United States
Fort Worth

You said Call Cade’s mother, Gaile, wrote a letter to Texas Monthly. His grandmother’s name is Gaile. His mother’s name is Candy. So who wrote the letter?
Kimberly Cade
Fort Worth

Editors’ Note: It was in fact Call’s grandmother Gaile who wrote to the magazine. We apologize for the error. We also apologize for an oversight in the opening paragraph of the story: Braves fans crafted homemade spears out of PVC pipes, not PCP pipes.

Eyes Wide Open

Pamela Colloff’s inspirational article “Out of Sight” [August 2008] brought tears to my jaded, disillusioned, oft-disgruntled teacher’s eyes. After slogging through the public schools as an English teacher for nearly fifteen years, it is often hard to find anything positive in our broken-down system. The teachers and volunteers at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired are to be commended for the joy they bring to these wonderful kids. Ms. Colloff’s article opened my eyes and reminded me what a privilege it is to be a teacher.
Krista Salesberry
Port Orchard, Washington

State of Confusion

I just wanted to set the record straight about &ldquoState of Play” [August 2008]. Justice Dale Wainwright’s opponent in the general election is Sam Houston.
Sherri Rains Whitus
Campaign manager, Justice Dale Wainwright
Austin

Editors’ Note: Yes, and Linda Yañez is running against Phil Johnson. We apologize for the mix-up.

Risqué Business

The review of Towelhead belongs in Hustler, not a reputable magazine like yours [Reporter; Hollywood, TX; August 2008]. Additionally, Christopher Kelly needs a therapist if he truly believes that this sleaze reflects any city in Texas.
Judy Milligan
Katy

Best of the Breast

Sarah Bird’s piece on breast-feeding, “Lactation Nation,” has me shaking my head [August 2008]. Kristine Kovach sounds like a wonderful lactation consultant. But why does Bird have to slam La Leche League? La Leche League taught me how to be a mother and has continued to be important in my life as my babies have grown. I think it was a fluke that Bird had such a rotten experience at an LLL meeting. I fear, though, that her piece will discourage mothers from getting the breast-feeding help they need, and can find for free, from LLL.
Vicky Suarez
Richardson

Editors’ Note: Sarah Bird emphasizes that her experience with La Leche League happened almost twenty years ago and is not necessarily representative of the work that this volunteer organization does.