New Delhi, Mar 5 (UNI) Strongly condemning the Karnataka government's ''inhuman and barbaric act'' of killing stray dogs in Bangalore and Mysore, the Animal Lovers Association of India today said it is a flagrant violation of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and against the tenets of Hindu religion.

''The reasons for the two child deaths due to dog bites are being overlooked, and a mindless killing of street dogs is being resorted to,'' the Delhi-based Association said.

''Instead of vaccinating the stray dogs and controling their population through sterilisation, merciless killing of the animal is taking place,'' Association President and senior journalist Hironmoy Karlekar said in a statement, and called for an immediate stop to these ghastly and cruel acts.

Pointing out that dog is man's best friend, whose protection is advocated in Hindu religion also, Mr Karlekar referred to an incident in Kolkota where a dog saved the life of a new born baby by protecting and guarding it near a dustbin for three days.

''A civil society should never allow mass killings of any form of life, be it a man's or a dog's.... The merciless killing as directed by the Karnataka government can never be a solution,'' he said and added that it would adversely affect the image of the state.

UNI