We just moved from one Central American country to another. The one we moved from is pretty far left and political feelings run deep. Just how deep? We found out when we had to leave our dog, Mac, behind for a few days.

He had a reservation to fly with us, but his kennel was too large for the smaller plane, so we had to leave him with our driver, Pedro, until we could arrange to have him shipped. On Monday, we were informed that Mac would neither eat nor come out of his kennel. On Tuesday, we were informed that he had come out of his kennel. Pedro’s neighbor’s chicken had given his life to bring Mac out of his depression. The chicken had walked in front of the kennel, and well, nature took its course.

Unfortunately, the chicken belonged to a neighborhood party official for the leftist government. Pedro is not a member of that particular party and his affiliations are well known. So, bereft of his less-than-prized cock, the man sought to file criminal charges against Pedro. This was not out of the man’s love for his cock, but for his party. And because his was the ruling party, there was a very good chance Pedro would go to jail because of our dog. Needless to say, we were in a great deal of distress over the matter.

What kind of shape is a country in when a dog killing a chicken has political implications?

Wednesday brought better news after not being able to reach Pedro by phone for nearly 24 hours. Turns out, Pedro had negotiated chicken replacement and some cash as recompense for Mac’s dastardly deed. After all, the chicken was trespassing onto non-party territory.

In the end, the leftist party official succumbed to the almighty dollar. Now, we wait to see if they’ll allow our dog out of the old country and into the new. He did, after all, kill a leftist cock.

*Names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Tags: Central America, chickens, cocks, dogs, Politics

Posted on Thursday, October 2nd, 2008 at 2:19 am and is filed under Family, Politics.