Join on WhatsApp
Join on Telegram
Rabat – The news of an African or an Arab country hosting a significant competition like the World Cup is not always met with celebrations. Frustration usually comes from the West, which often views countries like Morocco as needing to be watched or babysat.
Western media would come up with every potential challenge facing the chosen nation country to flag it as unfit, unready, or even unworthy. Morocco, for instance, as a co-host of the 2030 World Cup alongside Portugal and Spain, has been under the radar, between criticism and support.
One recurring challenge that the country faces criticism about is that of stray animals, especially dogs, as reports frequently resurface about dog culling in the North African country.
There’s always room for improvement, from a humanitarian perspective, as is the case in many countries, including in the West, where thousands of dogs are in foster homes, locked in a small cage, and waiting for a suitable adoption family.
If not, dogs spend most of their time in that cage, until they either die naturally or are euthanized, as they either face a health crisis or are too old to move.
Similar situations aren’t usually taken into account. But countries like Morocco do face fierce criticism despite their efforts to tackle the situation.
Morocco ‘is doing a great job’
AP recently shed light on how Moroccan street dogs often called “beldi” are subject to the Trap, Neuter, Vaccinate, and Return program, also known as TNR.
Under the program, dogs are examined, treated, and released with tags, thus informing people that they pose no danger.
The AP report quoted Mohamed Roudani, the director of the Public Health and Green Spaces Department in Morocco’s Interior Ministry, who said that while the country faces challenges linked to stray dogs, it has been tackling this crisis in “a way that respects animals.”
The news outlet acknowledged how associations and groups across Morocco “routinely use large sporting events to draw attention” to the stray dog issue.
Salima Kadaoui, an animal rescuer who runs an animal sanctuary in Tangier, spoke to Morocco World News recently and acknowledged that the country is indeed home to thousands of strays. Kadaoui’s project, Hayat, works to implement the neuter and vaccination program, tagging and treating dogs to protect them from diseases like rabies.
She acknowledged that the project tackles some issues like fundraising, but stressed Morocco’s efforts to create animal dispensaries and tackle the culling of dogs and animals.
“Morocco is doing a great job and is investing a huge amount of money to create dispensary centers,” she said, recalling the vaccination and venturing campaign the country launched, describing similar efforts as “wonderful.”
“It is doing the same thing for cats,” she said, noting that “abuse is the minority” and stressing how it is the “most wonderful thing” in the world to save lives.
“Saving lives is the most rewarding thing in life.. By helping any living being, whether human or animal, nothing in the world is more rewarding.
In February, Roudani denied accusations that Morocco was planning to kill three million stray dogs ahead of the World Cup. These claims had been disseminated by animal rights groups and activists, as well as foreign news reports, accusing the country of carrying out mass killings of stray dogs.
Moroccan local authorities are committed to human and sustainable solutions in dealing with stray dogs, Roudani argued, noting that municipalities across Morocco are working in line with international animal welfare standards and are implementing various measures to ethically control the stray dogs population.
Roudani explained that the Interior Ministry supports local authorities in different initiatives, including implementing the TNR, and reinforcing public health offices with veterinarians, nurses, and technicians.
Earlier this month, Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit announced an ambitious national program with a budget exceeding $100 million to address the proliferation of stray dogs in the North African country.
Laftit’s announcement came after his ministry signed a partnership agreement with the Ministry of Health and Morocco’s Office for Food Safety (ONSSA) and the National Order of Veterinarians to adopt an innovative approach based on sterilizing and vaccinating stray dogs against rabies.
The strategy, which takes into account respecting animal welfare principles, aims to control the reproduction of animals and stabilize their population. According to Minister Laftit, the ministry’s strategy includes creating and equipping collective or provincial shelters for stray dogs and cats.
Nearly $8 million had already been mobilized to support this system in several provinces as of November 2024.
The West has its own stray animals problem
International reports frequently cover similar situations in the West but fail to do the same for countries where authorities seize and euthanize dogs and cats just because they are surrendered or left without adoption.
There are even associations offering “low-cost humane euthanasia services” or claiming that they end life only for animals that are “too aggressive.” And that happens in New York and many other cities in major countries, where animal rights and associations look at samples beyond their countries.
So is this indifference or the culmination of an agenda premised on questioning and doubting everything about non-Western countries, from their political regimes to even their ability to properly manage the organization of major international events like the FIFA World Cup?
