World Football Week is a great celebration, especially if you’re a dog owned by a footballer. But for millions of others, it’s a very different story.
As FIFA kicks off its glittering World Football Week, a global celebration of unity, sport, and shared humanity, a darker reality is playing out in one of its next World Cup host nations.
In Morocco, preparations for the 2030 tournament are forging ahead. But they’re accompanied by something far more disturbing — the systematic, brutal killing of hundreds of thousands of street dogs.
The International Animal Welfare Protection Coalition (IAWPC) has launched a powerful social media campaign, calling on footballing dog lovers — including David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo, and others — to speak out for the voiceless victims of this cruelty.
The scale of the slaughter is staggering. For many years, it was widely accepted that 300,000 dogs were killed annually in government and municipal culling programmes across the country.
But since Morocco was identified as a potential co-host of the 2030 World Cup in October 2023, and even more so following the ratification vote in December 2024, the killing has escalated dramatically.
The International Animal Welfare Protection Coalition (IAWPC), a global coalition of animal protection organisations including the RSPCA, Dogs Trust, Soi Dog, and PETA, now believes that up to 500,000 dogs are being killed each year.
“We receive desperate messages and footage from Moroccan citizens every single day,” says Les Ward MBE, chairman of the IAWPC. “They are witnessing scenes of cruelty that are simply unimaginable, shootings, poisonings, brutal captures. We estimate that three million dogs could lose their lives before the 2030 World Cup even kicks off. That’s not speculation, that’s a conservative projection based on current rates of killing.”
Ward also raised concerns ahead of the Women’s U17s World Cup, due to be hosted in Morocco this October. “How can we guarantee the safety of players and spectators, especially children, when the same streets they’ll walk have become and continue to be on a daily basis, the scenes of violent massacres?
“This isn’t just an animal welfare issue, it’s also child rights issue since many children are being traumatised by witnessing the killing. And it’s a ‘human rights issue’, since women that try to stop the killings and protect their children, are being physically assaulted. Including one disturbing case recently involving a teenage girl being separated from her mother and where it is claimed, she was forced to watch puppies being shot in front of her.
“And for the young teenagers that will come at the end of the year and play in the Women’s U17s World Cup, it’s a ‘safeguarding concern’ – how is FIFA going to protect these vulnerable young football players whilst in Morocco. And because of the dire and dangerous situation that exists at the moment, what assurances and guarantees is FIFA able to give the parents and guardians of these young teenagers, that their children will be protected from harm at all times?”
The situation has sparked international outrage. World-renowned primatologist and UN Messenger of Peace Dr Jane Goodall DBE personally wrote to FIFA President Gianni Infantino, urging immediate action.
“This brutality,” she wrote, “is entirely at odds with the values of compassion, respect, and unity that FIFA claims to champion.”
Goodall’s letter has been echoed by a host of celebrities and campaigners. Ricky Gervais, Peter Egan, Chris Packham, Dr Marc Abraham OBE and Lorraine Kelly have all used their platforms to condemn the killings, donning campaign t-shirts and sharing footage of the atrocities on social media.
In a landmark 2022 ruling, a Moroccan judge convicted the Governor of the Nador Province for ordering the killing of stray dogs using methods including live ammunition and poison. The court described the practice as “uncivilised” and “brutal,” highlighting that such actions violate Islamic values, which call for compassion towards animals.
“Developed societies,” the judge noted, “are not measured by how they treat humans only, but also how they treat animals.”
Yet despite the ruling, the killings have only escalated. Earlier this year, a man in Ben Ahmed was shot by a passing “dog killing team” and left seriously injured. In 2019, a child was also injured during one of these operations. Both incidents involved the reckless use of live ammunition in public areas, a practice condemned by both Moroccan press and international watchdogs.
A local paper, Journal Aswat, condemned the most recent shooting in a searing editorial:
“The use of firearms and toxic substances such as strychnine is not only illegal, it is an immoral act that shows a complete lack of mercy… Why do we choose violence when there are more civilised alternatives?”
As Morocco prepares to welcome the world in 2030, many are asking how long FIFA can remain silent and continue to ignore what is happening behind the scenes.
The IAWPC says FIFA’s silence is not only shocking but dangerous too. “They know what’s happening. They’ve seen the certified film footage. They’ve received the letters. They know the propaganda from the Government is plain nonsense” said Les Ward. “And yet not a single public statement. How can an organisation that claims to unite the world through football stay silent while co-host Morocco’s streets are stained with blood, suffering and dead animals?
