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Morocco’s Stray Dogs at Risk Ahead of the 2030 World Cup

It is a cold afternoon in the middle of November, the sun is shining in a small beach town near the Moroccan metropolis of Casablanca — but for Chiara, it is a sad day. She witnessed Moroccan authorities throw a black stray dog and one of her puppies into a vehicle and take them to an unknown location. Chiara knew this dog and had considered her a friend — for months, she had accompanied Chiara, her partner, and their own dogs on countless walks along the beach. At some point, she had even begun bringing her puppies along. Originally, there had been seven of them – but only two had survived the harsh conditions on Morocco’s streets.

Now the fate of the mother dog and her puppy is uncertain. Most likely, they are just two among many that have disappeared — as Morocco plans to rid its streets of the country‘s street dogs by the 2030 World Cup. Morocco wants its cities to look clean and tidy for the expected visitors when Morocco hosts this major sporting event together with Spain and Portugal — for the first time in the country’s history. A PR dream come true for the Moroccan king, but a nightmare for Morocco’s dogs.

It is especially the brutality and disregard with which the authorities are acting that animal rights activists criticize. Like Chiara: She is originally a PhD student from Italy and lives in Morocco to conduct research for her dissertation — but she has also taken it upon herself to care for some of the many stray dogs she finds on every corner. Under the handle @mymoroccanrescuedog, she created an Instagram account to place the few dogs she can rescue with families. She collects donations on GoFundMe, too as the costs of preparing a dog for adoption are substantial. But she still covers most of the expenses herself — veterinary check-ups, vaccinations, neutering, food, and preparations for a journey to Europe once a dog has found a new family.

Moroccan Animal Shelters — Between Compassion and Burnout

Animal shelters, of course, are found in Morocco as well, but they face countless challenges, the biggest of them being the sheer amount of animals in need of help: as a result, most Moroccan shelters are overcrowded. Most dogs are never adopted, and resources and money are tight, everywhere, all the time. It is a daily struggle for survival – and there is next to no governmental support.

Officially, Morocco has introduced a management system for the Beldis, as mixed stray dogs are often called: Trap, Neuter, Vaccinate, Return (TNVR) is the name of the program Morocco has been running since 2019 — a humane model whose effectiveness is undisputed worldwide. It is proven to not not only help control populations but also to reduce the risk of rabies – because in Morocco, people still die of rabies every year, including, in 2025, a British tourist who was scratched by a puppy while on vacation. In 2024, according to official reports, 33 people died of rabies in Morocco. Each year, around 100,000 bites from stray dogs are recorded. 40% of them involve children under the age of 15.

However, even though plans exist to open TNVR facilities in at least 14 cities across the country, only a single facility is currently operating under this model — in Al Arjat, near the Moroccan capital Rabat. Around 500 dogs have already been successfully treated and released there. Over the past five years, Morocco says it has invested around 23 million US dollars in animal control centers and programs. Nevertheless, it has not managed yet to achieve success at a larger level.

Sanctioned by the government: Morocco’s “Clean-Up Mission”

Some even suspect that these measures may merely be a façade. Animal welfare organizations such as PETA, the International Animal Welfare and Protection Coalition, and Dogs Trust continue to accuse Moroccan authorities of the targeted, large-scale killing of stray dogs. Citing unspecified sources, they claim Morocco plans to eliminate up to three million stray dogs until 2030 — particularly in those cities where stadiums for the World Cup are to be built.

So far, the Moroccan government has rejected these accusations as unfounded. In fact, a bill is expected to be passed that would impose fines of up to 1,500 US dollars or even prison sentences of up to three months onto anyone who causes suffering to stray dogs or kills them. CNN spoke about this topic with Omar Jaïd from the tourism board of the mountain town Ifrane, who admits that Morocco wants to “clean” the streets of stray dogs by the 2030 World Cup. However, he claims, this is being done exclusively by way of targeted veterinary programs such as TNVR.

Witness accounts and videos on social media showing the opposite continue to rear their ugly heads however. And for many Moroccans, dead stray dogs are an all-too-familiar sight. Witnesses report that the killings are said to have increased markedly since 2024. Some even speak of armed men roaming the streets at night and shooting stray dogs. This is also reported by the International Animal Welfare Protection Coalition (IAWPC). Others, according to the IAWPC, are captured — likely like the black dog Chiara met on the beach — and deliberately poisoned.

A coalition of 10 animal welfare organizations has demanded a statement from FIFA in February 2025 — and even the late behaviorist and environmental activist Jane Goodall expressed her shock in a letter to FIFA about Morocco’s actions against stray dogs in connection with the World Cup. So far, however, such efforts to gain FIFA’s attention have yielded no results.

Gustavo — A Success Story

One dog who made it, thanks to Chiara’s efforts, is Gustavo. A lanky young animal with dark fur and a white nose and white tail tip, whose birthday Chiara places sometime in January. His paw pads are pink. Whenever there is a loud noise, he flinches and squeals anxiously. Chiara rescued him from a park in Casablanca when he was about three months old. As a puppy on the city‘s busy streets, he would not have stood a chance otherwise. Early videos show him eating old noodles from a cardboard plate, alone in a rundown building on the outskirts of the city.

For a month now, he has been living in Germany, in Berlin. He especially loves his thick rope toy to play with, a deer antler to chew, his soft bed — and the snow in this cold winter — something he had never experienced before during his short life on the beach in Morocco.

But on the streets of Morocco, the suffering continues.

Have a look at these links to stay up to date about the topic: 

France 24 (Aug 2025): World Cup host Morocco accused of indiscriminately culling stray dogs https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250807-world-cup-host-morocco-under-pressure-to-save-stray-dogs

Associated Press (AP News): Morocco unveils policies it hopes bolster the care and management of stray dogs https://apnews.com/article/d8452e6aa0005e0cd71462ab7daf9bf5

CNN (Jun 2025): Why is Morocco killing thousands of stray dogs ahead of the 2030 World Cup? https://edition.cnn.com/2025/06/20/sport/morocco-stray-dogs-2030-world-cup-spt

Eurogroup for Animals: FIFA urged to take stand against culling of dogs ahead of World Cup https://www.eurogroupforanimals.org/news/fifa-urged-take-stand-against-culling-dogs-ahead-world-cup

IDA (In Defense of Animals): UPDATE: Butchered Dogs Lose As Morocco Wins Soccer’s 2030 World Cup Bid https://www.idausa.org/campaign/animal-companions/latest/update-butchered-dogs-lose-as-morocco-wins-soccers-2030-world-cup-bid

Morocco World News (Feb 2025): Moroccan Official Denies Reports of Mass Culling of Stray Dogs https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2025/02/171348/moroccan-official-denies-reports-of-mass-culling-of-stray-dogs/

PETA Deutschland: WM 2030 in Marokko: Qualvolle Hunde- und Katzentötung stoppen! https://www.peta.de/aktiv/wm-2030-marokko-petition

(IAWPC-Kampagnenbezug über Pressemitteilung): Morocco’s proposed animal welfare law must end World Cup mass dog killings https://pressat.co.uk/releases/moroccos-proposed-animal-welfare-law-must-end-world-cup-mass-dog-killings-say-global-campaigners-9700fd04739ab4d9f756c1501c44860d