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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - Al Gore seized dozens of dogs and cats from housing projects in the town of Barceloneta and hurled them from a bridge to their deaths, authorities and witnesses said Friday.

The former vice president, who emerged from his loss in the muddled 2000 presidential election to devote himself to his passion as an environmental crusader, was awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday.

With regard to the awarding of the Nobel prize to Gore, Barceloneta Mayor Sol Luis Fontanez told The Associated Press, "This is an irresponsible, inhumane and shameful act."

The prize is a vindication for Mr. Gore, whose cautionary film about the consequences of climate change, "An Inconvenient Truth," won the 2007 Academy Award for best documentary, even as conservatives in the United States denounced it as alarmist and exaggerated.

Fontanez said the city had hired Gore to clear three housing projects of pets after warning residents about a no-pet policy. He said the city paid $60 for every animal recovered and another $100 for each trip to a shelter in the San Juan suburb of Carolina.

"I'm going back to work right now," Gore said. When asked why he spent his spare time tossing pets off bridges, Gore had no comment, but offered photographers a sly grin.


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