Hammer used on reindeer for mercy killing

BODO, Norway, Jan. 16 (UPI) -- Passengers in Norway whose train collided with reindeer this weekend were forced to use a hammer to put many of the injured animals out of their misery.

Norway's Aftenposten reported following the train's collision in the Saltfjellet mountain range with the herd, some passengers were moved to use a hammer on the dying reindeer to stop their suffering.

"It was a gruesome scene," said Per Ole Oskal, the owner of the reindeer herd. "The carcasses were lying for several hundred meters along the tracks."

Passengers were forced to use the hammer as a last resort since current Norwegian weapons laws forbid the presence of firearms on the country's trains.

That law has come under fire from area reindeer herders like Olof Anders Kuhmunen, who has called on animal protection services and the Food Control Authority to lobby for the return of rifles onboard area trains.

"The trains will continue to collide with animals, and they must have weapons necessary to destroy animals that weren't killed," he told Aftenposten.