A thief who made off with a pet dog from Kochi a year ago has made a belated repentance now by leaving a puppy at the house and also pledging to exit his ‘trade’.

M J George, a tailor of Kathrikkadavu in Ernakulam, had decided not to raise pets any more after he lost Ruby, their ten-year-old pet dashund, in December 2006.

“We have been keeping her since she was just two months old. She used to go outside the compound and return. But that day she left for good. It was then that we decided never to raise a pet dog,” said Mrs Mary, George’s wife.

It was their son Jose who first saw a small puppy in the vacant kennel on the morning of February 4 when he opened the doors. “We were surprised to find a puppy in a small cardboard box along with a computer-printed letter there,” Mr George told Deccan Herald. However, what surprised them even more was the computer-printed letter found beside it.

“Life has turned worse for me since I took your dog. So I am returning it in this form. I am leaving this job for good. Do please inform all. I am sorry to have caused so much inconvenience to you all. I won’t come to your locality ever,” said the Malayalam letter which was printed in big fonts which stretched the letter to three sheets of printouts. The author addressed himself as kallan (thief) which he scribbled with a pencil in the end.