 "Morocco is home to an estimated three million stray dogs, and the country is reportedly planning to kill hundreds of thousands in the build-up to the 2030 FIFA World Cup. Reuters")
The FIFA World Cup will be taking place in Africa for only the second time five years from now when Morocco hosts the centenary edition of the world’s biggest football event along with Spain and Portugal in 2030.
The Atlas Lions have been quite the trailblazers over the years with several firsts to their name – being the first African team to qualify for the World Cup finals (1970) as well as the first from the continent to reach the knockouts (1986) and the semi-finals (2022).
It is thus, fitting that the north-western African nation gets to host the showpiece event for a change with six Moroccan cities set to host games in the tournament that will be taking place over the course of six weeks.
Morocco’s World Cup preparations, however, are making headlines for the wrong reasons nearly a year since they were awarded joint-hosting rights for the 24th edition of the tournament.
With Morocco also hosting the Africa Cup of Nations that will be getting underway next month, the country’s government has been accused of killing thousands of stray dogs in order to ‘clean up’ their streets, according to a report on The Telegraph.
Morocco is home to an estimated three million stray dogs, which some view as a threat to public health and safety. And as per animal welfare groups, the country is aiming to kill hundreds of thousands of strays in the build-up to the World Cup.
Situation ‘much worse’ since Morocco was named World Cup co-host
The report also makes mention of an ‘shocking’ execution of a stray dog and claims to have seen images of bloodied dog carcasses piled on top of one another and even a puppy being kicked to death.
“The situation has become much worse since Morocco was made a co-host of the World Cup. And right now, ahead of AFCON, it has gotten out of control,” a spokesperson for the International Animal Welfare and Protection Coalition was quoted as saying in the report.
Rabat, meanwhile, claims that it doesn’t support culling but leaves it to local municipalities to manage stray animals. A court ruling, however, insisted that the buck stops with the government as far as the killing of stray animals is concerned.
Additionally, the Moroccan embassy in London has also “categorically denied” claims of strays being killed as part of the country’s World Cup preparations, adding that more dog shelters will be utilised across five cities towards the end of the year.
Activists belonging to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) had protested against Morocco’s reported killings of stray dogs with a pitch invasion during the FIFA Club World Cup in the United States earlier this year. FIFA, however, insists that Morocco has “outlined its commitment to the protection of animal rights”.