BERKELEY — Yoga exercises are at the heart of an eviction notice served by the city on an animal rights group renting space at the Telegraph-Channing Mall.

The operator of the Berkeley Animal Rights Center is Friends of DxE.

DxE International, or Direct Action Everywhere, has been much in the news of late.

On Sept. 9, several members of the group staged a protest at Chez Panisse restaurant on Shattuck Avenue against the use of animals as food.

On Sept. 20, Wayne Hsiung and other DxE members appeared en force before the Berkeley City Council, which proceeded to call for an end to the annual Yulin (China) Dog Meat Festival.

On Sept. 30, Hsiung ran onto the field at AT&T Park in San Francisco and was eventually tackled by Giants’ left fielder Angel Pagan during a Giants game against the Los Angeles Dodgers; Hsiung was protesting against cruelty to animals in connection with the production of hot dogs.

A “30-day notice to cure or quit” sent on Sept. 29 by Burke, Williams & Sorensen LLP, outside attorneys for the city, proclaims that the operators of the center at 2425 Channing Way are in default of their lease for using the premises for something other than “office space and supporting retail.”

The location is described by the activist group as “a community center organizing free speech and nonviolence trainings for animal rights and social justice advocates,” according to the Berkeley Animal Rights Center website.

“Instead, the City has learned, and Tenant’s website states, that Tenant is using the space for a ‘communal work area, meeting location, event space, yoga studio [and] art gallery,’” according to the notice signed by attorney Gail E. Kavanagh.

Additionally, the group has done interior improvements without providing notice to the city; pasted its logo over the sign that belonged to the previous tenant, Revolution Books, without the landlord’s prior consent; and installed a lockbox in violation of a clause in the lease, according to the notice. Moreover, the group did not provide sufficient insurance documentation, the notice states.

It also takes issue with an Oct. 23 event initially scheduled to last until midnight, noting that the lease says events running beyond 10 p.m. require a permit. That event has since been rescheduled to end earlier, said center volunteer Arun Rao.

The notice gives the animal rights group 30 days to cure the defaults, or get out.

Toby Parks, an agent with MRE Commercial Real Estate, which brokered the lease, said he could not comment other than that, “The space met the tenant’s requirement, and the information provided by the tenant was acceptable to the landlord as presented.”

The location “is a community center organizing free speech and nonviolence trainings for animal rights and social justice advocates,” according to the center website.

Center members interviewed at their office this week said they believe they are being singled out by the city for reasons unknown. Other tenants have lock boxes, several said, adding that they have removed the center’s office lockbox.

The yoga sessions, or actually, simple calisthenics and stretching exercises, several of the volunteers said, help morale and health, and are the common practice of many organizations and businesses. As for using the premises for meeting space, much of that involves “know your rights” training and volunteer appreciation sessions, Rao said.

“It’s ironic that the city of Berkeley, which is known for free speech, is targeting a center that runs free speech and advocacy training,” Rao said this week.

Rao and several other Animal Rights Center members met on Friday with officials of the Public Works Department and city attorney’s office to try to resolve the situation. According to Rao, “they said they preferred us to leave, and they would refund our rent.”

City Attorney Zach Cowan, however, said in an email this week that the notice from the city “provides the tenant with an opportunity to cure,” and that “The City’s interest is that tenants comply with lease terms.”

Rao said that during the conference, city employees produced a photo of an exercise session at the animal rights center. Cowan, in an email Tuesday, said, “a copy is not available at this time.”