[An attempt to address a social issue satirically in the form of a letter]
                                                     Annie Cyriac

 Dear Mr. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy,

I am a 13 year old boy, from your own hometown, Kottayam. I know that adults don’t usually listen to kids but please take time to read my letter. It’s because I want to bring to your notice a matter that vexes me a lot. Let me explain.

I love animals especially dogs. After pestering my parents for a puppy I finally got one – a cute little dachshund. I was thrilled and overjoyed. But there was one hitch. My elder sister is scared of dogs. Very, very scared!  So much so, that she would lock herself up whenever ‘Snoopy’ was let into the house. I couldn’t enjoy Snoopy’s company fully without my sister. So I decided to give it away. I did it for my sis.

But each day on her way to college, as she walks to the bus stop, she is followed by stray dogs. She finds dogs on the street and at the bus stations. And there is nothing I can do about it. At the college she attends, there is a stray dog, familiar to all, called ‘Esthapann’. She often steers clear of it but recently Esthapann has started acting violent and chasing students. They intend to tell their college principal who, I hope will find a solution. I wonder what all the others out there will do who have to encounter stray dogs and fend them off.

I was appalled to see horrid pictures in the newspapers of children and adults who have been attacked by stray dogs (and these poor guys will have to bear the pain of anti-rabies vaccinations as well). I have also read in the papers that Mr. Kochouseph Chittilapally has gone on hunger strikes for this cause. I really admire him. (You see, I cannot bear to miss a single meal!)

Dad says it’s a crime to kill dogs in India. But I have heard that in Nagaland people eat dog meat. Isn’t Nagaland a part of India?

So my request to you, Mr. Chief Minister is that you make a law for our state that allows to put down dogs if they become a threat to man. Just as in Maharastra, their chief minister recently made a law for his own state against the killing of cows.

Isn’t it against the law for a man to attack another? Then why can’t dogs that attack man be punished?

The other day, Rajappen our house help, killed a poisonous snake that had slithered down the logs in our backyard. Is that okay?  But people do it anyway. And, what about killing rats and cockroaches?  My sis and I searched the internet and found that animals with a value above 10 rupees cannot be killed. Who determines the value of animals? It’s very confusing. I think the government should make a list of all the creatures that can be killed and those that can’t be, just to create awareness.

I gave up Snoopy because I loved my sister more. Do you care for stray dogs more than your citizens, the common man? Don’t we deserve a safer place to live? At least make a dog pound in each village and city.

Hope you will do what is best for us, without delay.

Sammy