31 January 2011 Last updated at 21:22 ET

Canada police investigate 100 husky deaths

The dogs were reportedly used to pull tourists' sleds during the 2010 Winter Olympics

Canadian police are investigating the reported killing of 100 huskies which had been used to pull tourist sleds in the ski resort of Whistler.

An animal rights group claims the dogs were killed inhumanely by an outdoor adventure company and thrown into a mass grave.

Local media reports say business slumped after the 2010 Winter Olympics and the dogs were no longer needed.

The company could not be reached for comment.

"We've opened a police file and assigned an investigator," Police Sergeant Steve LeClair told AFP.

'Throats slit'

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) in British Columbia, alleged that an Outdoor Adventures employee was told to cull the dogs in April last year.

Manager of animal cruelty investigations, Marcie Moriarty, claimed that some dogs were shot, while others had their throats slit. The bodies were then thrown into a mass grave.

The killings came to light after the employee who did the culling was compensated for post-traumatic stress disorder afterwards, AFP news agency reports.

The employee's personal injury lawyer, Cory Steinberg, told news radio station CKNW: "It wasn't always a clean, one-shot kill. Inevitably he ended up seeing and having to put the end to some horrific scenes."

The company had reportedly expected an expansion in its sledging business after the Olympics, but it failed to materialise.