On a rainy morning in January, Vachagan Emeksuzyan, 30, was driving near his home in the seaside city of Sochi when he saw a bright spot on the brown roadside.

He stopped and got out, to find to his shock a sandy-coloured neighbourhood dog that he had known for years, lying dead in the runoff water with a dart in its side.

According to Mr Emeksuzyan and animal rights activists, this was one of hundreds of stray dogs and cats killed by city contractors as Sochi gets ready to host football powerhouses like Germany and Portugal for the World Cup next month.

“I had fed this dog, it had come into our yard. It was a big healthy male dog,” Mr Emeksuzyan recalled. “It's really sad that they're solving the problem in such a brutal way when there are other methods that are cheaper and more humane.”

Although residents for years have been accusing municipalities of poisoning animals, the imminent influx of foreign football fans has raised the pressure to get rid of the estimated two million strays in 11 World Cup host cities. Proponents of harsh action argue that ownerless dogs have attacked humans.