'Wife prefers stray dogs over me’: Husband seeks divorce from animal activist wife

NEW DELHI: A 41-year-old man from Ahmedabad has approached the Gujarat High Court seeking a divorce, claiming his wife gives more importance to stray dogs than to him. He says he doesn’t even have space to sleep on the bed, as his wife allows stray dogs to sleep there instead. When he tried to drive them away, they bit him. The man says he has been suffering since their marriage in 2006 and can no longer bear it.

His wife is an animal welfare activist. According to him, she has no interest in physical intimacy, which has caused him severe mental distress and even affected his sexual health. The locality they live in has rules against keeping stray animals at home, but she continues to bring street dogs inside. On social media, she posts photos not with him, but of herself kissing stray dogs.

The man also said his wife frequently quarrels with neighbours over the dogs, leading to multiple police complaints. Now, everyone around him dislikes him, and he feels humiliated by their taunts and insults. Whenever stray dog issues arise in their area, his wife files cases and forces him to support her; if he refuses, she insults him publicly. She even spread false stories that he was having an affair.

He had earlier filed a divorce petition in 2017 in the Ahmedabad family court, but it was dismissed even after he detailed the cruelty he faced. He told the High Court that he had offered ₹15 lakh as a settlement, but his wife demanded ₹2 crore instead. Meanwhile, the wife has denied all the allegations.