LETTERS: DEAD ARMADILLO BECOMES FOCUS OF CITY'S RATIONALE

To the editor:

We have just returned from a visit to my nephew, who lives in Gainesville, theAthens of northern Florida. Recently John declared war on an armadillo, which had burrowed under his porch in a tunnel that would have allowed in rats and other creatures less beloved than the armadillo. Animal control lent John a live trap, and with it he caught the armored lizard and called animal control again to fetch it. Alas, when the city's agent arrived much later, the armadillo was dead, whereupon John was fined $75 for cruelty to animals. When John asked what the city did with trapped armadillo, he was told that they were euthanized.

All of this means something to the animal lover and those who leave kids in hot cars. And even to those who believe life in Gainesville would be better than life in Cape Gir-ardeau. It may mean lots to the Libertarian. I learn with some anxiety that the armadillo has attacked the Show Me State beginning with the southwest corner, where some have been euthanized by 18-wheelers.

PETER HILTY

Cape Girardeau