New Delhi, Sep 17 - Animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India has filed a complaint against Punjab's directorate of animal husbandry for conducting 'breeding' experiments which violate the law on prevention of cruelty to animals.

Under the Right to Information Act, PETA obtained a document stating that the department was conducting breeding and testing experiments in violation of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 as it was not registered as an institute where experiments could be held on animals.

The group had also received a complaint that workers at the Punjab Veterinary Vaccine Institute, that operates under the directorate, killed rabbits by hitting them on the head with hammers.

'Following this, PETA has sent an urgent letter to the Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CPCSEA) urging it to take appropriate action against the directorate,' said PETA's senior campaigns coordinator Dharmesh Solanki in a statement issued here Thursday.