How odd. How terrible. And somehow how Texas.

Certainly, more odd (often terrible) things happen in Texas because there are more people in Texas. And where there are more people, there are more odd (often terrible) people who make odd (often terrible) things happen. (The same is true in Florida as well: more Floridians, more oddballs. Oddly, though, there doesn't seem to be as high a correlation between population and oddness in the other two most populous states, California and New York. I'm not going to state flat out that it's a red state/blue state thang. But inquiring (not odd, certainly not terrible) minds do kinda-sorta want to know why so many odd (often terrible), batshit crazy things happen in Texas (and Florida).

The latest deep in the heart of Texas terrible oddity I read about concerned a Texas high school student - the president of the school's Future Farmers of America organization - who killed a rival's goat by forcing pesticide down the poor goat-een's throat. 

Authorities allege that Aubrey Vanlandingham, 17, used a drench gun to force-feed toxic pesticide to the goat, named Willie, at a barn at the Vista Ridge high school in Cedar Park in October.

According to an arrest affidavit obtained by multiple outlets, Vanlandingham reportedly confessed to deliberately poisoning the animal, an act that was captured on CCTV footage.

The goat died about 21 hours later after convulsing and showing signs of respiratory distress, documents say. (Source: The Guardian)

Vanlandingham - who is (why am I not surprised) also a cheerleader - told police that her motive was a belief that Willie's owner was a cheater, and didn't deserve to win any livestock competitions. In addition to her confession, the police took a look at her search history and discovered that:

...she had searched “how much bleach can kill an animal” and “poisoning pets, what you should know”, People reported. She also allegedly searched “how to clear search history”.

I have no idea "how much bleach can kill an animal," but apparently a large enough amount that it was easier to use pesiticide. And I haven't a clue about "poisoning pets, what you should know" - other than the obvious that "poisoning pets" is a terrible idea, generally criminal, and that everyone in their right mind knows it's a really bad thing to do.

Vanlandingham could be looking at two years in the slammer if she's found guilty of cruelty to livestock animals. Cruelty seems like way too mild a word, by the way. She's really guilty of capine murder. The family of the 15-year-old girl whose goat was murdered wants justice, and to them that means jail time. The 15-year-old was holding Willie when he died, which sounds pretty traumatic. 

“We don’t believe there is any remorse there,” the mother added. “We want justice served, we don’t want a slap on the wrist. We want to make sure that she is punished.”

Well, time will tell if a pretty suburban cheerleader from an affluent suburb - it's the wealthiest suburb in the Austin metro - will go to jail or go into therapy. Likely therapy. But will therapy determine whether Aubrey Vanlandingham is a psychopath, a true baddie, a spoiled-rotten bitch, or just an f'd up, overpressured teenager (albeit one on the far out end of the spectrum of f'd up, overpressured teenagers)?

And, of course, I was wondering why an affluent suburb of Austin would have an FFA program to begin with. Yes, there are FFAs in plenty of high schools in Massachusetts, but they're mostly county schools of the agricultural and technical sort, not affluent suburban Lexington High, not Wellesley High, not Brookline High. 

Turns out that most high schools in Texas have FFAs. Texas is, of course, a big agricultural state, and a lot of those affluent suburban high schools are built on the grounds of former farms and ranches. And the suburbs often still have a farm or two, a ranch or two, in their environs. 

A friend of mine has a niece who lives in a different affluent Austin suburb, a town full of doctors, lawyers, consultants, and techies. Her niece's daughter is in high school and likes hanging out in the barn with her FFA friends. She's considering joining FFA next year. Of course, this girl is half farmer, as her dad grew up on a working farm in Missouri. (It may have been a working farm, but her dad's father was also an accountant.) But this girl's mother grew up in Westchester County, so no ag roots there. It'll be interesting to see if she goes through with her plans to join FFA.

Anyway, I'm not sure exactly what Aubrey Vanlandingham needs, but she certainly needs something.

And killing a sweet, innocent little goat? How odd. How terrible. And somehow how Texas.