Canines join campaign for Taj Mahals inclusion in 7 wonders list

Dog lovers of Jaipur paraded their pets as part of a campaign to get the Taj Mahal included in the new Seven Wonders of the World list. With posters of Vote for Taj hung around them, the 30 to 40 dogs and their owners marched down a busy street to draw the attention of people to their campaign.

Jaipur, July 2 : Dog lovers of Jaipur paraded their pets as part of a campaign to get the Taj Mahal included in the new 'Seven Wonders of the World' list. With posters of 'Vote for Taj' hung around them, the 30 to 40 dogs and their owners marched down a busy street to draw the attention of people to their campaign.

Dog owners shouted 'Vote for Taj' slogans and also campaigned for awareness of cruelty towards animals, besides demanding decent burial space for their pets.

"The Taj is our prestige and we should do something for it. I would appeal to all to vote for the Taj. Our other demand is to provide us with a cremation ground for our pets," said Pooja, a dog owner.

Viren Sharma, the organiser of the pets rally said: "Dogs are a favourite with people, and if their cause was championed, people would definitely sit up and take notice."

The new seven wonders will be chosen on the basis of total number of votes received from across the globe with the winning landmarks. The outcome would be announced on July 7, 2007 in Portugal.

The 21 final creations and structures also includes Jordan's ancient City of Petra, Britain's Stonehenge, the Great Wall of China and the Taj Mahal. They are short-listed on January 1 by an experts panel chaired by former UNESCO chief Federico Mayor.

ANI