Residents of an Ethiopian town have been forced to kill hundreds of their own dogs after three children died from rabies.

Powerful community groups in the central town of Hossana told residents they would be fined and arrested if their dogs were not killed, even if the animals had been vaccinated for rabies, residents told the BBC.

The community groups issued the orders after three children died from dog bites and 80 other people were hospitalised, local mayor Samuel Shigute said.

Eyewitnesses told the BBC that after the order was imposed, some reluctant owners hanged their dogs or beat them to death, while others were handed over to be killed.

The BBC has seen photos, which are too graphic to publish, of the bodies of dogs hanging from trees. Another image showed several dead dogs lying on a field with ropes around their necks.

The community associations behind the directive are affiliated with the local government, but Mayor Samuel called the dog killings “illegal” and told the BBC they were not ordered by his administration.

One resident, who did not wanted to be named for fear of reprisals, told the BBC he was ordered to kill his dog, but could not bring himself to do so.

“I decided not to kill him myself, but to let them do it without me seeing. I handed him over, and he was killed a little far from the settlement,” he said.

“I am very saddened by the loss of the dog that lived with me for five years and was the pride of our house,” he said, adding that his dog had been vaccinated for rabies.

Samuel said roughly 70% of Hossana’s 10,000 dogs were guard dogs which had received rabies jabs.