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Agadir – A woman on the beach in Aourir, Morocco wails over the murder of her loved one. Her husband and friends comfort her. Some strangers supportively respond to her social media post about the incident. Other strangers think she is ridiculous for crying over a dead dog.
Lena Wendt’s friend Rosa was a local dog cared for by Wendt and her neighbors after Rosa’s owner died last year. Friendly, collar-wearing Rosa died a slow painful death from poisoned food intentionally put along the beach to kill animals, pets, or strays alike.
At the same time Rosa was dying, attackers killed dozens of dogs in Sidi Yahya Zaer, twenty kilometers from Rabat. The dogs were brutally shot even though the Ministry of the Interior has signed an agreement to reduce stray dog populations through sterilization rather than bullets.
Many Moroccan animal activists and lovers are furious with the authorities for not supporting their words and allowing the cruel killing of animals to continue. Commune employees picked up the dogs, but it is unclear who shot them.
Morocco animal aid workers and Moroccans who love animals want you to know these seven things about the stray dogs in Morocco.
1 – We Will Never Get Rid of Stray Dogs
Puppy Love by Morocco Animal Aid
Beldi (country) dogs are indigenous to Morocco, living here for centuries, and are naturally a part of Morocco’s ecosystem. If you kill off or chase away stray dogs, other dogs will show up and take over the territory.
Terrence Scott, technical lead at the Global Alliance for Rabies Control, explained to National Geographic that “if vaccinated dogs are removed from an area, new dogs—potentially rabid ones—will simply take over the territory. That’s why TNR of vaccinated animals is proven to reduce the spread of the disease.”
TNR means “trap, neuter, release” and is exactly what animal activists are working hard at to make all Moroccan stray dogs healthy through vaccination and sterilization programs.
2 – Dogs Are Not Haram to Own
Rosa on the Beach by Lena Wendt
It is a common misconception that people cannot own dogs. Lord Nazir Ahmed, a Muslim spokesman in the UK’s House of Lords, offered an Islamic position for “working dogs,” such as guard dogs, herding dogs, or those used by people with disabilities.
Ahmed said: “Islam is a religion that cares for people. Although it is not encouraged to keep a dog in the house, if the dog is owned for reasons of safety then it is permitted. When a disabled person is accompanied by a trained dog, such a dog becomes a blind person’s eyes, and therefore, such a dog should not be stopped from entering with a blind person.”
Muslims may keep dogs for safety and other reasons.
3 – It Is Within Islamic Principles to Care for Street Dogs
Mahdi and Friend by Morocco Animal Aid
While many Muslims believe that dogs are impure and therefore disliked in Islamic principles, this is incorrect. Dogs’ salvia invalidates wudu and must be properly cleaned off of clothing before praying. All animals have their place in nature and there is no directive to needlessly harm them.
Just consider the hadith of the prostitute who gave water to a suffering dog and “was forgiven” for her mercy to the animal.
4 – Animals are Not Toys or Other Insentient Objects
Puppy! By Morocco Animal Aid
Often a child or adult will find a cute kitten or puppy on the street and take it home for a period. When the animal becomes a nuisance to care for they will then return it to the street.
Veterinary surgeon Dr. Ayoub M. Banderker explains the seriousness of this habit, “Abandoned pets cannot fend for themselves, with the result that they starve and experience untold suffering, cruelty, and an eventual, agonizing death.”
5 – Teach Children it is Haram to Participate in Any “Blood Sport” Like Dogfighting
Dogs and Friends by Morocco Animal Aid
Debates remain over the commonality of stray dog attacks in Morocco and certainly there are instances of unprovoked attacks. But what of people, especially children, attacking stray dogs and other animals for amusement? Children harming animals is not behavior restricted to would-be psychopaths.
Children test limits and this includes their power over others. Animals are easy targets of violence from children and sometimes adults. Intentionally hurting animals or provoking them to hurt each other for amusement is inhumane and therefore haram.
6 – You Cannot Kill Dogs and Other Animals Without Valid Reason
Dogs Play with Horse by Lena Wendt
Poisoning stray dogs on the beach is a senseless act of violence, as is shooting them to decrease their numbers as this method is proven ineffective.
Whatever your belief system, killing any animal larger than a small bird without a valid reason is worthy of persecution and judgment. If the animal has an owner or someone who regularly cares for it, you can be taken to a court of law for cruelty to animals or be judged by God.
7 – Tagged Dogs are The Best Stray Dogs
Happy Dog by Morocco Animal Aid
Whenever you see a stray dog with a plastic tag through its ear, this means the dog is being cared for. It has been vaccinated and sterilized. Workers and residents feed it and the dog is friendly enough to not worry about or bother it all.
President of Morocco Animal Aid Azzedine Abdelghali wants fellow Moroccans to know this about dogs: “They are the most gentle, kind, loving animals. And they are intelligent and can even be the best partner someone can have.”
There is no reason to hurt stray dogs.
Read also: ERHAM: Taking Pity on Morocco’s Cats
