Dear Editor,

I am a dog with the world of worries on my mind. Please provide me the space for me to tell my tale to the general public.

It all started two months ago when my master abandoned me in the streets of Georgetown. I've been struggling to stay alive since then. I've managed to start a new life. I've also discovered many canine friends also on the streets whose daily lives are similar to mine.

What is of mighty concern to my dogs and me is the way we are being treated on the streets by your people here in Guyana. They hurl sharp objects at us. They kick us and they verbally abuse us. What for? I have not the slightest clue! My friends think it's because of our appearance. Mr. Editor, don't your people understand that one should not be judged by one's appearance. Believe me, if we had perfume and soap and powder like your people do, our appearance would have been a lot more pleasant!

It is interesting to note that our canine counterparts in many other countries of the world, for example, the U.S.A are treated with the gentlest care! If we were blessed with the faculty of flight like our sisters in the bird family, we would have flown to greener pastures a long time ago.

I beg you and your people to please be a little more humane towards us. We beg you! Please! We are fed up of this great injustice to the canine animals here in Guyana, especially those who live on the streets like my friends and me! Don't we suffer enough already? I mean living on the streets is not exactly easy!

Maltreatment of dogs, regardless of breed, is not a new behavioural pattern recently assumed by humans. We have been faced with this problem since the days when man began to believe that he is no longer part of the animal kingdom; that he is superior to the other animals of this world.

Putting a stop to this kind of cruelty is long overdue. This type of tripe has to stop! And now!

I have tried telling your people that the way they treat us is wrong, unfair, and uncaring, but they repeatedly act as though they don't understand what I'm saying. The few people who did reply did so with kicks and curses!

All I'm asking is for your people to recognize and understand that all of us are one under God's umbrella of creation and should therefore be treated equally! Sure we have two legs more than your people and sure we have tails and your people don't, but believe it or not, we have feelings just like your people. We feel hurt when you kick us and throw bad words like stones at us!

What I'm trying to say, Mr. Editor is if your people can treat us with a little respect, it would really make us feel good and we would not have to complain again. In fact, it would be a tail-wagging experience for us all dogs!