As Morocco prepared to welcome Africa’s biggest football tournament, animal welfare groups said a darker operation unfolded in the shadows of the stadiums.
With the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) kicking off on December 21, the International Animal Welfare Protection Coalition (IAWPC) recorded what it described as a sharp increase in the capture, killing and disappearance of free-roaming dogs in and around tournament host sites.
Matches were played across several major cities, including Agadir, Marrakech, Rabat, Casablanca, Fes and Tangier. These were the same urban areas where campaigners said reports of brutality intensified in the weeks leading up to the tournament, as authorities sought to present a “cleansed” image to visiting teams, officials and supporters. Campaigners said that image came at a devastating cost, with hundreds of community dogs brutally slaughtered.
Evidence gathered by the coalition of international charities, which includes the RSPCA, PETA and Dogs Trust, showed dogs being picked up across entire neighbourhoods, never to be seen again. Witnesses described hooded men moving through villages at night attempting to capture much-loved community dogs. The IAWPC said it confirmed cases of dogs being shot, as well as others poisoned in public spaces.
The situation in Agadir was of particular concern. The city hosted national teams, with major hotels accommodating players, staff and tournament officials. Yet local sources reported that the Agadir dog pound was already full, holding around a thousand animals, meaning any dogs collected were unlikely to have been taken there at all. This concern was supported by footage taken inside the Agadir pound, which showed only a very small number of dogs and cats being presented for adoption. “This simply didn’t stack up, so what happened to them?” campaigners asked.
“This was not humane population management,” said Les Ward MBE, chairman of the IAWPC. “What we saw was a misleading campaign of smoke and mirrors, masking the mass removal and killing of free-roaming dogs, happening both in broad daylight and behind closed doors, and it clearly coincided with preparations for AFCON. Dogs vanished from the streets around stadiums, hotels and tourist areas. The explanations simply didn’t add up.”
Ward said both the IAWPC and Moroccan citizens had warned months earlier that so-called ‘animal care centres’, which were being built and brought into use, would amount to nothing more than modern-day killing stations.
The IAWPC is a global coalition of more than 80 animal protection organisations, formed to end the systematic killing of free-roaming dogs in Morocco and to promote humane, long-term alternatives such as Catch, Neuter, Vaccinate and Return programmes. The campaign attracted high-profile support from around the world, including the late Dr Jane Goodall DBE, actor Peter Egan, broadcaster and conservationist Chris Packham, TV presenter Lorraine Kelly and musician Gary Numan.
Campaigners said the pattern that emerged mirrored what they had long warned about: killings intensifying around major international events. While AFCON had just taken place, Morocco was also preparing to co-host the 2030 World Cup, raising fears that what occurred during AFCON was a rehearsal for a far wider crackdown.
“In the days before the tournament began, national teams, their staff and supporters stayed in Agadir and other Moroccan cities, seemingly oblivious to what was happening around them,” Ward said. “While football celebrations took place, so-called dog ‘cleansing’ was happening in the shadows. This violence and inhumanity cast a long shadow over the AFCON tournament because it was carried out by the authorities for it.”
The coalition pointed out that FIFA and other sporting tournament organisers had already acknowledged the harm that can be caused to animals during preparations for major events. In FIFA’s case, animal welfare is referenced in its Sustainability and Human Rights Strategy for the 2026 World Cup. Campaigners argued these commitments should not exist only on paper.
“Animal safeguarding exists,” Ward said. “So the question was simple. If these protections exist, why were they not applied in countries like Morocco, where they were needed most? Why wait until after a tournament, when the damage had already been done?”
The IAWPC urged football authorities to intervene. Members of the public disturbed by reports of dogs being killed in connection with a major sporting event were encouraged to take action by contacting governing bodies and demanding accountability.
Emails were directed to FIFA at sgoffice@fifa.org and to the Confederation of African Football at info@cafonline.com.
“Silence is not an option, it enables violence and death to become a reality,” Ward said. “Action builds accountability. Morocco hosted AFCON and is preparing for the World Cup next. The world is watching. The time to enforce animal welfare commitments in Morocco was now, not later.”
