Leo, a Labrador, is all set to walk during the inaugural rally for the 29th Malda Book Fair here tomorrow like she has beendoing in the past two years. The crowd that she managed to pull the previous years is eager to see her again the day when the book fair kicks off.

She has been trained for a long period of time now to walk through the English Bazaar town without any chain, while holding a banner on her mouth bearing quotes on book-reading. According to her master and trainer, Ajay Kumar Kundu, who is a resident of Kalitala under the English Bazaar police station, the idea to let her walk with a message to read books in her mouth came to his mind two years ago and he subsequently approached the convener of the book fair and a councillor of the English Bazaar Municipality, Amlan Bhaduri, who agreed at once.

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“I brought Leo in 2009 from Kolkata and since then she has stayed with me. She is such a homely and calm dog that the stray ones also cooperate with her whenever she is out in the streets. One of the memorable incidents about Leo is that she fed her breast milk to the newborns of another dog living nearby when she was also pregnant,” Mr Kundu said.

Meanwhile, the committee of the fair has brought into place some new measures for the people for better convenience, like a map of the fair premises to be displayed on the entrance of the gate and a picture gallery comprising pictures of the old days of the fair.

However, the enthusiasm among people, especially the children, is for Leo, who has her own fan following now. Rishita Bhattacharya, a student, said, “Leo is so cute and we always expect her in the rally.”