Coward Killed Big Elk

Re “A Cruel End for a Great Elk,” Column One, Feb. 8: I feel sick to my stomach reading about the killing of Big Daddy. There are two pictures in the paper: the comforting spirit depicted by the 1,000-pound gentle giant who was not afraid of humans and who ate apples in their yards and the fearful-looking man who killed this amazing creature, drank cheap beer while doing it and maimed it with kitchen knives. I hope John Russell Reed and anyone else reading this article who might contemplate the same realize that this is the picture of cowardice. A man with a gun against an animal that is not afraid of humans is nothing more than savagery. Sixty days in jail is something, but not long enough in my opinion.

Michelle Hobbs Newbon

Santa Monica