Thought to be a reincarnation of a secular lawyer, the ultra-Orthodox judges are calling for the dog to be put to death.
(UPDATED: Monday, 6/20 — This story has been proven false.) Israel’s Maariv newspaper originally reported that weeks ago, the large hound reportedly wandered into a courtroom in the very religious Jerusalem neighborhood of Mea Shearim. Allegedly wreaking havoc on the proceedings and scaring visitors, the dog refused to leave the court. Now it appears the judges of this rabbinical court are out for retribution.
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One judge recalled the tale of a lawyer in decades past who was cursed by the court for his anti-religious tendencies. The judges hoped that the lawyer’s secular spirit would be reincarnated as a dog, considered an insult in some Jewish traditions. When the pooch wandered into the court a few weeks ago, several years after the lawyer’s death, they feared it was his reincarnation coming to cause chaos.
So in what was surely an unfair trial, the judges called for local children to stone the dog to death, according to Maariv‘s reporting. The hound escaped before the horrific punishment could be delivered.
Regardless, the verdict is in. Can animal rights activists step in to defend the defenseless dog?
UPDATE: According to Hebrew news sources, the story originally published in the Behadrei Haredim newspaper may not have been based on factual reporting. The court denies the sentence was ever handed down, claiming the only action taken against the dog was in calling animal control officials to remove the dog.
