WARNING: CONTAINS DISTRESSING IMAGES
Animal rights activists in Russia have accused the government of investing £1.4 million ($1.99m) in slaughtering stray dogs, ahead of the upcoming World Cup this summer.
According to Ekaterina Dmitrieva, director of the City Animal Protection Foundation, the money has been spent on getting rid of strays in the host cities by means of poison and the deployment of 'killer dogs'.
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However, Dmitrieva's claims go against the official story that dogs are going to be rehoused in temporary accommodation for the duration of the World Cup.
It has been reported that Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko recently ordered host cities to set up temporary animal shelters for roughly two million strays in these areas.
But Dmitrieva insists that money has already changed hands and deals have already been made to wipe the dogs off the streets of the host cities.
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"Hundreds of thousands of dogs, cats and even birds will be destroyed by terrible poison - or in ways that are even more cruel," a petition with more than 77,000 signatures stated, adding that host cities 'will drown in the blood of homeless animals'.
"The tenders have been signed, the money is sent to contractors," Dmitrieva said.
"I am not getting any replies [to complaints], because there is no procedure of cancelling the tenders. 'At the moment state tenders worth 110 million rubles (£1.4m) in total were signed to eliminate stray animals.
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"These tenders are butchery."
She claimed that, despite what officials have said, in Ekaterinburg £407,000 ($578,000) has been allocated for the killing of stray animals, while another £25,000 ($35,500) has been allocated in Volgograd.
However, in Nizhny Novgorod, it's reported that £185,000 ($263,000) has been put towards shelters and immunising strays, instead of wiping them off the streets with force.
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Kaliningrad has also put £115,000 ($163,500) forward for animal shelters.
When the animal rights campaigners reached out to FIFA for comment, they were told: "We understand that there are many important social issues and initiatives such as yours that deserve to be addressed and supported.
"However, we are sure you will understand that due to our other numerous ongoing and planned activities in connection with FIFA's competitions, including the earmarked finances for these, we are not able to support your cause more actively."
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The 2018 World Cup is set to take place in Russia between 14 June and 15 July and will involve 32 national teams.
It will be the 21st quadrennial FIFA World Cup.
Featured Image Credit: East2West NewsTopics: World News, Football, World Cup, Animals