ONE hundred husky dogs were slaughtered after the 2010 Winter Olympics because they were no longer needed to pull tourist sleds at a Canadian ski resort.

The killings were reportedly carried out over two days in April by one worker with a shotgun and a knife, with reports of injured dogs crawling out of a mass grave.

The dogs were killed because business slumped in the two months after the Games and they were no longer needed by tourism companies Outdoor Adventures and Howling Dogs, which sell dog-sled rides to tourists, reports said.

"We've opened a police file and assigned an investigator," Royal Canadian Mounted Police Staff Sergeant Steve LeClair said.

The case came to light on Monday after the worker claimed post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of killing the dogs and was reportedly awarded compensation.

Marcie Moriarty of the Society for Prevention of Animal Cruelty, the lead agency in the investigation, said: "The way he describes [in the board's report] multiple shots and faces blown off and coming back on a second day is gruesome. The way this employee describes it, it's a massacre. These dogs were killed in front of other dogs that were all tied up."

The man's personal injury lawyer Cory Steinberg said: "It wasn't always a clean, one-shot kill. He ended up seeing and having to put the end to some horrific scenes."

A spokeswoman for the law firm refused to comment on the criminal investigation and Outdoor Adventures did not return repeated calls.

The company's website, with photos of huskies and sleds, continues to advertise dog sled rides.