Save Atlas: Why We Created a Football Mascot: And Why We Had to Kill Him

Today, we are launching Save Atlas, a new awareness campaign from the International Animal Welfare Protection Coalition (IAWPC).

At the heart of the campaign is a short film that introduces Atlas, a fictional football mascot. He is friendly, loyal and instantly recognisable to football fans everywhere.

Then, without warning, his story ends with the sound of a gunshot.

It is a deliberately shocking moment, and one we know many people will find upsetting. But that discomfort is the point.

Because every day, real dogs are suffering and dying in Morocco, yet their stories rarely reach the football community.

Why Atlas?

For several years, animal welfare organisations around the world have raised concerns about the treatment of free-roaming dogs in Morocco as the country prepares to co-host the 2030 FIFA World Cup alongside Spain and Portugal.

Up to three million dogs could be at risk as part of efforts to remove street dogs ahead of the tournament, although that figure remains disputed. Reports and evidence gathered by animal welfare organisations have led to international petitions, demonstrations, parliamentary discussions and meetings with football stakeholders.

Yet despite years of campaigning, one audience has remained largely untouched by the issue: football fans.

So we asked ourselves a simple question.

What if the dog being killed wasn’t an anonymous street dog, but your club’s beloved football mascot?

That question became Atlas.

By placing a fictional mascot at the centre of the story, we hope football supporters will connect emotionally with a crisis that has, until now, felt distant from the game they love.

This campaign is about more than one film

Save Atlas is not about creating controversy for its own sake.

It is about opening a conversation that football has largely avoided.

Football is the world’s biggest sport. Its clubs, players and supporters have enormous influence. If that global community chooses to speak up, it has the power to help create meaningful change.

Our hope is that Atlas becomes a symbol that encourages football fans everywhere to ask questions, start conversations and stand up for animals who cannot speak for themselves.

How you can help

If you believe football should be a force for compassion as well as competition, there are several ways you can support the campaign.

• Sign the Save Atlas petition. HERE
• Share the campaign film across your social media channels.
• Use the hashtag #SaveAtlas.
• Tag @FIFAworldcup in every post you share so the campaign reaches football’s governing body and the wider football community.
• Talk to fellow supporters, your club and your local community about the issue.

Every share, every conversation and every signature helps ensure this issue cannot be ignored.

Together, we can make football pay attention

The Save Atlas campaign launches as Morocco competes on one of football’s biggest stages, when global attention is focused on the country’s footballing success.

We believe this is also the right moment to ask football’s biggest community to look beyond the pitch.

Because if millions of people would mourn the death of a fictional football mascot, shouldn’t we also care about the fate of the real dogs whose lives inspired his story?

Please watch the film, share it widely and join us in calling for compassion, accountability and humane solutions.

Together, we can ensure that Atlas is the last dog whose story has to end this way.

With huge thanks to digital creative Juan Carlos Ruiz Pérez who created Atlas.