Reuters Posted online: Friday, July 09, 2004 at 1653 hours IST
Kenya, July 9: A Kenyan mayor ordered more than 500 pigs to be shot dead because they were mating with stray dogs, the East African Standard reported on Friday.
A squad of town council guards moved from estate to estate shooting pigs roaming free in Nyahururu town, 150 km (95 miles) north of the capital Nairobi.
Town mayor Muritu Karumba said he ordered Thursday's cull to avoid an outbreak of disease caused by the pigs and dogs mating, which he said broke the laws of nature and "caused unnecessary commotion".
But the unfortunate pigs' owners immediately cried foul, claiming collusion between Nyahururu's authorities and the town's bacon traders to cut competition in pork supplies.
