Activists turn to prayer against SC order to relocate stray dogs

Tired of holding protests, animal lovers and activists on Tuesday turned to prayers, gathering at Hanuman Mandir and Bangla Sahib in Connaught Place in Delhi to seek divine intervention in their fight to protect street dogs.

The activists said the prayer meet began at 12 am at Hanuman Mandir, where nearly 200 people participated.

Carrying banners with the slogan “Awara nahi, humara hai” (They are not stray, they are ours), they also recited the Hanuman Chalisa before marching to Bangla Sahib to continue their prayers.

However, they were stopped by the police outside Bangla Sahib.

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“We are exhausted after days of protesting, so today we came here to seek help from God to give us strength in this fight,” said one activist.

He added that they would continue to press their demand for the Supreme Court to withdraw its order directing that stray dogs be shifted to shelter homes.

“Earlier our fight was that Delhi has no proper shelters for dogs. Now we want the government to stop picking up these voiceless animals from the streets at night,” he said, claiming that several dogs had already been taken away.

A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan had observed that the “whole problem” had arisen due to “inaction” on the part of local bodies.

The court, however, reserved its order on a plea seeking a stay on parts of its 11 August directions.