MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AP):

The fatal mauling of four people by feral dogs in a Mexico City park set off debate yesterday about the city's love/hate relationship with its dog population, and the guilt or innocence of 25 animals trapped near the scene of the nightmarish killings.

Mexico City's mayor said the government would launch a new programme to spay and neuter the hundreds of thousands of dogs who wander the city, sending 25 mobile surgical units to neighbourhoods where residents would be encouraged to take advantage of free sterilisation for their pets. Animal advocates called for Mexico City residents to rethink a pet-owning culture that often treats dogs as disposable, saying the police failed to enforce a ban on sales of puppies and kittens in the streets.

Police photos of the forlorn, skinny strays captured in the wooded, hilltop park where a woman, her baby and a teenage couple were killed in two separate incidents set off an online campaign protesting their innocence and calling for authorities not to euthanise them.