Rabat – A French tourist died in the province of Oued Eddahab, near the southern Moroccan city of Dakhla on Tuesday due to stray dogs’ bites.
A statement from local authorities said that the French national was aged around 44.
Preliminary investigation shows that the French woman arrived on the same day of her death to visit the city of Dakhla, the statement added, noting that she was staying at a hotel in the town of El Argoub.
A pack of stray dogs attacked the woman a few minutes after she left the hotel.
Local authorities have opened an investigation to shed light on the circumstances of the woman’s death.
Several similar cases happened across Morocco in the past few years, with MPs calling on both the government and local authorities to find solutions to mitigate the risks associated with stray cats and dogs.
In 2018, a British tourist died of rabies after a cat bite in the North African country.
Another similar incident happened to a Moroccan man in Spain, who had a cat bit during his visit to the country in 2019.
In 2020, the Ministry of Health announced the admission of a 12-year-old boy after a dog attack in Goulmima, in Errachidia province.
Earlier this year, members of the Moroccan parliament demanded solutions to the stray dogs’ issue in response to mounting concerns among citizens.
“The issue is a huge source of anxiety in roads and alleyways, particularly in more traditional neighborhoods,” MP Mohamed Raggani said, stressing that this challenge “ brings a lot of fear into citizens, regardless of their status or age, especially children going to school early in the morning.”
Many animal welfare experts and activists have been calling for optimal solutions to mitigate the issue. Fighting for better treatment of Morocco’s stray animals, some have called for campaigns to sterilize and use vaccines to ensure the safety of both humans and animals.
In 2020, the North African country started a national sterilization program to stop the killing of stray dogs using bullets or poison.
