The head of the firm hired to oversee the extermination of stray dogs in Sochi during this year's Winter Olympics has described them as "biological trash".
Alexei Sorokin, director general of Russian pest control firm Basya Services, admitted that he did not know how many dogs his company has culled so far in the lead-up to the games and would not say when it was hired by the city of Sochi.
"Imagine, if during an Olympic Games, a ski jumper landed at 130kph [over 80 mph] and a dog runs into him when he lands. It would be deadly for both a jumper and for the stray dog," Sorokin told ABC News during an interview.
"Dogs must be taken off the streets even if that means putting them to sleep... let's call things by their real name. These dogs are biological trash."
The mayor's office did not respond to calls seeking comment.
