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In 2019, following an order from King Mohammed VI to end Morocco’s decades-long massacre of homeless dogs and cats, authorities signed an agreement to stop the killing. The agreement did not hold. Last year, as the country prepared to host the FIFA Club World Cup soccer tournament, the killings resumed. A series of videos exposed the horror:
• Men with rifles gunned down dogs in full view of shocked witnesses, including children.
• Some dogs were poisoned, while others were burned alive .
• Dogs and puppies separated from their mothers were locked up together (10 to 20 per small cage) without food, water, or basic medical care and intentionally left to die in supposed “shelters” all around the country.
One newspaper reported that the mass killings were carried out in Tangier to “beautify” the city ahead of the soccer tournament.
The hosts for the 2030 World Cup are expected to be announced in September 2024 after a vote by approximately 200 member federations. Morocco is joining neighboring countries Spain and Portugal in an intercontinental bid. The situation will only get worse for homeless animals in Morocco, because the government is reportedly planning to exterminate 99% of all homeless dogs (approximately 3 million of them) across the country as part of its bid to become one of the hosts the 2030 World Cup.
Authorities have used public health as an excuse for the slaughter, but when that agreement was signed in 2019, they said that they would also begin a trap, neuter, vaccinate, and release (TNVR) program, a vitally needed initiative that would help alleviate the homeless animal crisis and control the spread of rabies.
The government has not delivered there, either. Instead, charity organizations throughout Morocco have treated, neutered, vaccinated, and tagged more than 6,000 homeless dogs and cats in the last few years alone.
PETA has received reports that authorities have been killing dogs who had been tagged and had gone through the TNVR program. We’re calling for a humane approach to the homeless-animal crisis. We’ve written to FIFA asking it not to stand by silently while this devastating extermination takes place on its behalf.
We Need Your Help!
It’s time for PETA supporters to step in, too. Help end the slaughter by sending a letter to the Moroccan Ministry of the interior, calling for an immediate end to the massacre.