Rabat – The municipal hygiene office of Agadir has allegedly rounded up the city’s stray dogs and placed them in an enclosure at the pound, without food. The dogs are eating each other to survive.
Disturbing videos filmed by animal welfare activists Lucy Austin and Fanny Belle claim to show the reality of the Agadir dog pound.
Warning: graphic content
One video shows dogs gnawing at the open wounds of the corpses of dogs, already dead from starvation or fights.
Other videos show hordes of dogs viciously attacking one another in a desperate bid for something to eat.
In the videos, the dogs appear malnourished and visibly distressed.
A source close to the scene, who asked to remain anonymous, told Morocco World News that animal welfare associations based in Agadir have been trying to access the dog pound for months.
The source explained that she volunteers with Morocco Animal Aid. She visited the pound in August and saw that the dogs were very thin, and Morocco Animal Aid began feeding the dogs kibble to ease their starvation.
Read also: ERHAM: Taking Pity on Morocco’s Cats
According to the source, the city’s sanitary office manages the pound. The office had been rounding up Agadir’s stray dogs and relocating them to the pound due to complaints from residents.
Morocco Animal Aid attempted to initiate a program to take care of the dogs, but the pound denied the group access to its facilities and enclosures.
The source says that the pound refused to answer any questions about who gave the order to round up the dogs and instructed the association to talk to the governor of the region.
The source revealed that her association’s attempts at communicating with the governor of Agadir have been futile.
The decision to publish a video of the brutal scene was a last resort, an attempt to prompt the pound to open avenues of communication with the association.
“But they didn’t,” she lamented. “They just stopped us from accessing the dogs.”
She added that Morocco Animal Aid gave the pound kibble for the dogs, but alleged that the employees never fed them.
“They just want them to die,” she stated.
Associations including Morocco Animal Aid, Ims’ONE, and Association Le couer sur la patte are working to feed and secure the starving dogs at the pound.
Read also: In Photos: SFT Tangier Opens Morocco’s Heart to Stray Dogs
The news comes just days after local authorities allegedly authorized the slaughter of dozens of dogs on Tuesday, December 10 in Dar Bouazza, a coastal town near Casablanca.
The community had already neutered and vaccinated the dogs, according to a Dar Bouazza resident, but the tags on their ears did not save them from the bullets.
Less than one month ago, Morocco’s Ministry of Interior signed an agreement with the agriculture and health sectors, along with the National Veterinarians Authority, to reduce Morocco’s stray dog population through sterilization rather than culling.
The initiative does not yet appear to have taken effect, and Morocco’s strays continue to suffer.
If you would like to contribute to animal welfare activism in Morocco, check out some of these organizations:
Association Le couer sur la patte
Association de Defense des Animaux et de la Nature (ADAN)
