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In a bizarre case from Ahmedabad, a 41-year-old man has approached the Gujarat High Court seeking divorce from his wife, alleging that her obsession with stray dogs and a humiliating prank call ruined his marriage and mental health.

According to his appeal, the couple married in 2006, and marital discord began when his wife brought a stray dog home despite their housing society’s ban on pets. Over time, she brought in more strays and allegedly forced her husband to cook, clean and care for them. One of the dogs reportedly bit him after insisting on sleeping in their bed.

The husband claimed that his wife’s behaviour alienated neighbours, leading to a police complaint in 2008. After joining an animal rights group, she allegedly began filing frequent police complaints against others and often made him accompany her to the stations. When he refused, she verbally abused him. The constant stress, he said, led to erectile dysfunction.

In one incident on April 1, 2007, his wife allegedly arranged for a radio jockey to make a prank call that he was having an affair. The man claimed the call embarrassed him at work and in society, worsening their strained relationship.

Unable to cope, he moved to Bengaluru, alleging continued harassment. He filed for divorce in 2017 at an Ahmedabad family court, but the court dismissed the plea in February 2024, ruling that cruelty or desertion had not been proven. The judge also said that the prank call “cannot be grounds for seeking divorce.”

The man has now appealed to the Gujarat High Court, calling the marriage “irretrievably broken”. He offered to pay Rs 15 lakh as alimony, while his wife demanded Rs 2 crore. The HC has scheduled the next hearing for December 1.