...
PID=`cat /var/log/syslogd.pid`
RUNNING=`ps -ef | grep -v grep | grep $PID | wc -l`
if [ $RUNNING != 1 ]
then
    echo "syslog not running"
fi
...

##</code><code>##

sub is_syslogd_running {
   my $cmd = "ps -ef | grep -v grep | grep `cat /var/run/syslogd.pid`";
   my $rc = 1;
   open CMD, $cmd or return $rc;
   while( <CMD> ) {
      $rc = 0;
   }
   return $rc;
}