Police said they have registered a case against 15 activists of Youth Front (M), an offshoot of Kerala Congress (M) led by former state minister K M Mani, under section 429 (committing mischief by killing the animals) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The activists, protesting against the increasing stray dog menace in the state and Union Minister Maneka Gandhi's stand on the issue, displayed the dead dogs in front of the Head Post office here yesterday.
Youth Front (M) state president Saji Manjakkadambil said they decided to kill the stray dogs as they were posing a big threat to people in Kottayam town.
Vetenerary chief surgeon Mohana Chandran Nair performed postmortem of the dead dogs and their internal organs have been sent for forensic examination, police said.
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Animal rights activists condemned the incident, calling it as "disgusting".
"These people who are beating and using dogs to their advantage and political opportunity will do the same to people they are trying to impress. This is completely barbarian way to deal with a situation...Is it leading to a solution? No way!!," Delhi-based animal rights activist Khushboo Gupta said.
"Kerala is perfect example of how sensible actions has no connection with your literacy level," she wrote on her Facebook page.
Gandhi has criticised the government's proposal to take stern measures, including culling, to check the continuing stray dog menace which came to sharp focus recently after an elderly woman died after being attacked by a pack of street dogs near Thiruvananthapuram.