Morocco is killing thousands of stray dogs in what animal rights groups describe as a brutal effort to clean the streets before the FIFA 2030 World Cup, that the country will be co-elanfitrion of Spain and Portugal.
In villages like Iphrane, repression is visible and bloody.
“Walking to school, blood swimming pools would pass,” said A Amina, a 19 -year -old student who requested anonymity about security concerns.
“At a certain point, I realized that it was not normal to start the day on the bodies.”
Amina said the murders have become more frequent in the last year.
“There was occasional shootings every few months,” he said. “Now, they are more systematic. They kill dogs like a sport, like people hunt ducks.”
Animal welfare groups say that Morocco points to Street Dogs to improve their image before the World Cup begins in 2030.
“People armed with rifles take to the streets, often at night, and shoot the dogs,” said Les Ward, head of the International Animal Welfare Protection Coalition (IAWPC).
“Others are rounded and taken to municipal dispensaries where they are poisoned. They simply disappear.”
Omar Jaïd, president of the Ifrane Provincial Tourism Council, confirmed efforts to reduce the number of alleys.
“The city has begun to clean the streets of stray dogs, as part of our preparations for the FIFA 2030 World Cup,” he said.
Iphrane is about 64 kilometers (40 miles) from the Fez stadium, a proposed tournament.
Jaïd said the dogs are relocated to vaccination. “I am a dog lover,” he said.
But what Amina told told another story.
On February 9, 2024, he heard shots at night. Outside, he found three dogs thrown in a garbage container, one of them a male husky he recognized.
“I was terrified,” he said. “I took Husky out of the garbage can, covered with blood. I didn't know what to do. I felt so helpless.”
Authorities say that stray dogs represent a serious risk to health, especially as carriers of rage.
“Street dogs represent a serious risk to public health, particularly as carriers of rabies,” said Mohammed Roudani, head of the public health division and green spaces in the Interior Ministry.
“Around 100,000 people are bitten every year, 40% of them under 15 years.”
In 2019, Morocco launched a Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate Llease (TNVR) program as a human solution.
“We are working with local authorities to implement this in accordance with animal welfare standards,” Roudani said.
But local governments, not the national government, control the management of the population of dogs.
“There is a legal vacuum,” he said. “Some cities still depend on traditional methods, and currently there is no law against killing street dogs.”
In some areas, poison is still used, including strychnine, a prohibited pesticide known for causing extreme suffering.
“We must deal with the problem in a different way,” Roudani said. “No more killing. No more strict. We need an ethical solution.”
The verified images of CNN of several cities: Marrakech, Casablanca, Agadir and Ifrane, which show the dogs captured with cables and loaded in trucks that are already full of corpses.
On January 24, a barista named Abdrahim Sounni in the city of Ben Ahmed was shot while walking home from work.
He said a street dog ran next to him, pursued by a vehicle. The shots were shot. The dog escaped, but Sounni was beaten in the knee and thigh.
Police told him that the vehicle belonged to the municipality.
“He has reached the point where people are in danger,” said Ward of the IAWPC. “You can't have shootings on the street, especially during a World Cup with thousands of tourists.”
In February, 10 animal rights groups sent a letter to FIFA urging the intervention.
In the letter, the conservationist Jane Goodall said that she was “absolutely horrified” by the “large -scale murders of street dogs” of Morocco to make cities look more presentable for international guests.
FIFA did not respond to the letter, but told CNN that Morocco had committed to protecting animals as part of its offer.
“FIFA is following its local counterparts with the aim of ensuring that commitments are maintained,” the organization said.
According to local witnesses, tactics have changed murders open to more covert operations.
British residents Jane Wilson and Louise Jackson in Marrakech said that although the trucks that captured dogs once they showed animals in sight, now they use unmarked vehicles.
In Casablanca, white vans from Casa Baia, a municipal company, capturing dogs. The company says that it sets more than 20,000 streets per year.
CNN reviewed the video evidence that shows dogs dragged by metal chains, trapped in networks and thrown into the vehicles.
For Erin Captain, an American expatriate in Casablanca, violence was personal.
“They are incredible creatures,” he said about local streets. “I began to take care of two puppies: vaccinate and feed them, see them grow.”
“They took them out of our house, kicking them,” he said. “One had his little legs broken; the other was kicked until death. It was a nightmare, he was terrified. My husband had to intervene before he left.”
Despite their efforts to vaccinate and protect other dogs, most were killed.
“It's more barbarian than you can imagine,” he said. “I don't sleep.”
Casa Baia declined to comment when CNN contacted contacts.
FIFA has been aware of the murders since at least 2023.
That year, the European Link (ELC) coalition met with officials and sent videos, photos and testimonies.
FIFA Human Rights Advisor, Marta Piazza, acknowledged the issue and said the discussions were ongoing with Morocco.
But the ELC says that it has not received follow -up communication.
FIFA told CNN that “in contact with animal welfare organizations on this important matter.”
Meanwhile, Moroccan authorities are working on a new law to stop the murders and enforce TNVR programs throughout the country.
FIFA said the Moroccan Football Federation has reported “a series of measures” instead, with additional reforms ongoing.
But the pressure continues to ride.
Celebrities such as Ricky Gervais and Peter Egan have condemned the sacrifice as a “killing.”
“Football fans worldwide love dogs,” said Minky Worden from Human Rights Watch. “Animal abuse could become an important problem if FIFA does not take concrete measures.”
Nick McGeehan de Fairsquare added: “Having a clear knowledge of problems and choosing to ignore them, that is a violation of basic human decency.”
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