‘Let me ride too’: Shih Tzu Vayu seeks permission for small pets on Mumbai Metro

Vayu’s letter to the chief minister states that he would be a well-behaved commuter in his carrier. Pic/BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Mumbai Metro may have thousands of daily commuters, but one potential passenger is currently feeling left out, quite literally. Vayu, a four-month-old Shih Tzu, has "written" an open letter to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, making a rather unusual request: to allow small pets to travel on the Metro in secure carriers.

Describing himself as "the size of a large loaf of bread" and weighing "about as much as a bag of onions", Vayu argued that he poses little threat to public order and should be allowed to accompany his human on public transport.

"I would very much like to ride the Mumbai Metro, and currently, I am not allowed to," he wrote. Vayu said travelling by road is no walk in the park for him. Mumbai's traffic, constant honking and noisy roads, he claimed, are particularly difficult for dogs with sensitive ears.

"A single traffic signal turning green in Mumbai produces a sound roughly equivalent to a fireworks factory catching fire," he wrote, adding that he has had enough of travelling in cabs and on scooters.

The Shih Tzu pointed to public transport systems in London, New York, Washington DC, San Francisco, and Toronto, where small pets can travel in secure carriers under specified conditions. "If dogs can ride Metros around the world, why can't [they] in the world-class Mumbai Metro, Pune Metro or Nagpur Metro?" he asked.

Addressing concerns over hygiene and space, Vayu assured authorities that he would be a "paying, basket-bound, extremely well-behaved passenger".

Vayu's owner Shivani Dhumar told mid-day, "Mumbai's streets turn into a nightmare for pets during the festive season - firecrackers, processions, the noise, the crowds. It would mean so much to every pet owner in this city if the government allowed us to travel with our pets in the Metro, away from all that chaos."

Meanwhile, activist Jeetendra Ghadge who helped Dhumar write the letter to the CM, said, "There are lakhs of pet owners in this city who treat their pets as family, not accessories - no family member should be left behind because of an outdated rule… This isn't luxury, it's basic compassion in urban planning."