Greg Harris
After the controversies surrounding the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups, a future edition of the competition has already become embroiled in scandal.
The 2030 FIFA World Cup may still be years away, but one of the host nations has been called out for alleged animal rights abuses.
Morocco is set to co-host the World Cup along with Spain and Portugal, which has sparked serious concern already.
The North African country is accused of planning to kill stray dogs across its cities. Activists have said the plan is to make cities and tourist spots safer and cleaner ahead of the arrival of international visitors, fans, and tourists.
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It is estimated that three million stray dogs live on the streets of Morocco, and they are all at risk of losing their lives.
Images and testimonies have been released by welfare organizations alleging authorities in Morocco are using harsh methods to kill the dogs, such as clamping their necks, and poisoning or shooting them in trucks before their bodies are buried in mass graves.
The International Animal Welfare and Protection Coalition (IAWPC) submitted a document to World Cup organizers FIFA, including pictures depicting the allegations.
In a statement, the IWAPC said: “After the [World Cup confirmation], the extermination of the dogs has increased dramatically.
“As a result, the fear is that Morocco will now go ahead with their plan for the mass slaughter of three million dogs.”
However, Omar Jaïd, President of the Provincial Tourism Council of Ifrane, told CNN last year that it has ‘started cleaning the streets of stray dogs, as part of our preparations for the 2030 FIFA World Cup.'
Ifrane is some 40 miles from Fez Stadium, one of the venues proposed to be used during the World Cup.
Calling himself a ‘dog lover’, Jaïd went on to claim that the pups were not killed but instead taken off the streets and vaccinated at dispensary sites.
However, eyewitnesses and charities have other versions of the story.
“Individuals armed with rifles go out into the streets, often at night, and shoot the dogs,” Les Ward, head of the IAWPC, told the outlet.
As for the vaccination locations, Ward says these are ‘municipal dispensaries where they are poisoned’, claiming the dogs 'simply disappear.’
The IAWPC has launched a campaign to end ‘the violent and inhumane mass killing of street dogs’.
Although some experts have responded and said stray dogs pose a ‘serious public health risk’ because they are ‘carries of rabies’, said Mohammed Roudani, head of the Public Health and Green Spaces Division at Morocco’s Ministry of Interior. He also told the outlet ‘around 100,000 people are bitten every year, 40% of them children under 15’.
Animal rights group PETA, claimed in a petition to the Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco on its website that the ‘Moroccan government is reportedly planning to exterminate 99% of all homeless dogs (approximately 3 million of them) across the country.’
It is alleged that the methods include shooting them in the streets, setting them on fire and starving them.
UNILAD has contacted FIFA for comment.