RUTH LAYCOCK (HAS, Oct 3) clearly judges other people by herself. I am not "desperate to be right" in my argument about cats.

If I am desperate it's about the ongoing slaughter of British wildlife by two alien pests - feral cats and grey squirrels, especially the former.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Ms Laycock now seeks to distance herself from her earlier remark about killing ("culling") other people, presumably including myself.

All I can say is that if, as she now claims, she didn't intend for the remark to be taken seriously then it was an extraordinarily irresponsible thing to say - not least because there are extremists who need no such encouragement.

If, on the other hand, she was being serious - and she certainly seemed to be - it was an extraordinarily wicked thing to say.

Either way, Ruth Laycock comes across as someone who cannot conduct an argument, or herself, like a civilised adult.

T Kelly, Crook.