CNN
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Dead dogs are a common sight for 19-year-old Fatimazara, from Ifleen, a small mountain town known as “Morocco’s Switzerland.” Fatimazara asked CNN not to publish her last name, fearing that she would be targeted by local governments.
“When I walk to school, I go past a pool of blood on the street,” she recalled in an interview with CNN. “At one point I realized it’s not normal for your day to start walking on a corpse.”
According to Fatimazara, the killings were particularly bad last year. “We used to have occasional shootings every few months,” she said. “Now they’re more systematic. They kill dogs like it’s a sport – just like people hunt ducks.”
Animal welfare groups say the killings are part of a campaign to “clean up” Morocco’s streets ahead of the 2030 FIFA World Cup, with the country co-hosting with Spain and Portugal, while Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina all hosting opening matches.
“Individuals armed with rifles often go out into the streets at night and shoot dogs,” Red, head of the International Union for Animal Welfare and Protection (IAWPC), told CNN. “Others are rounded up and taken to a local government clinic that is poisoned. They simply disappear.”
Omar Jaid, chairman of Iphreen State Tourism Council, told CNN the city has “begun cleaning up the stray dog town as part of the preparations for the 2030 FIFA World Cup.” Ifrane is a drive (approximately 64 km) from Fez Stadium. This is one of the tournament venues that will host numerous national soccer teams along with thousands of visitors.
Gid added that animals have been rounded up and moved to a pharmacy where they can get vaccinated. He emphasized that he is a “dog lover.”
However, Fatimazara witnessed something different.
On the night of February 9th, 2024, she was woken up to the sound of gunshots. Outside she discovers three dead dogs in the trash can. One of them was a husky, a man she knew from the neighborhood.
“I was terrified,” she recalled. “I carried the husky out of the bloody trash can. I didn’t know what to do. I felt very helpless.”
CNN cannot independently confirm who killed the dog. CNN contacted Ifrane Municipality for comment but received no response.
“Straw dogs pose serious public health risks, especially as an airline with rabies,” Mohamed Rudani, head of the Public Health and Green Space Department of the Morocco Ministry of Interior, told CNN. “Around 100,000 people are bitten every year, with 40% of whom are under the age of 15.”
In 2019, the Moroccan government introduced the TRAP-Neuter-Vaccine-Release (TNVR) program, a humanitarian strategy for controlling stray dog populations. “We are working with local governments to implement this in compliance with animal welfare standards,” says Roudani.
However, there is a major obstacle. The local government, not the central government, is in charge of managing stray animals. “There’s a legal vacuum,” Rudani explained. “Some cities still rely on traditional methods, and there are no laws currently against killing stray dogs.”
In some cities, stray dogs are poisoned with strichinin, a pesticide that is banned in many countries to cause inhumane suffering. “We have to deal with this issue in a different way,” Rudani said. “There will be no more genocides. There will be no more streching. We need an ethical solution.”
CNN has checked footage of dog culling in cities such as Marrakech, Casablanca, Agadir and Ifrane. Video, filmed in May 2025, shows the dog being restrained by metal wire and thrown into a pickup truck already filled with corpses.
And it’s not just animals at risk.
On January 24th, Abderahim Sounani, a barista in the town of Ben Ahmed, had just finished his shift when a stray dog passed him and was chased by a car.
Gunshots rang out, three bullets missed the dog and instead hit Suununi with his knees and thighs. The 34-year-old spoke about the incident in a local media interview and later confirmed details of the call with CNN.
Sounni didn’t believe the shooter saw him, but instead focused on the dog. He cried out for help, and the vehicle rushed, bleeding on the sidewalk.
Bystanders spot him and he was rushed to a hospital in Casablanca where doctors were unable to remove the bullet. He later said police informed him that the vehicle belonged to the local government.
CNN contacted local police who declined to comment on the incident. Sounni declined to provide CNN with further comments, saying she felt overwhelmed by media attention.
“It’s put people in danger,” IAWPC president Ward told CNN. “You can’t fire a gunshot on the street, especially during the World Cup, where there are thousands of tourists.”
In February this year, a coalition of 10 animal rights groups urged FIFA to address the “increased arrests and culling” of Moroccan stray dogs ahead of the 2030 World Cup.
In a letter to the FIFA executive director, parent Jane Goodall said it was “absolutely alley” to see the Moroccan government “engage in the massive killing of street dogs as part of an obvious effort to make the FIFA World Cup venue “presentable” to foreign visitors.”
Although FIFA did not respond to the letter, Morocco’s World Cup bid told CNN in a statement that “outlined its commitment to animal rights protection,” including an expansion of “Strey Dog’s clinics and support programs.”
“FIFA is following local counterparts with the aim of ensuring that their commitment is supported,” the statement said.
As international scrutiny grows, dog catchers appear to have become more cautious, especially in tourist hubs like Marrakech.
Jane Wilson and Louise Jackson – two British residents living in Marrakech – said up until last year, the van had a cage on its back, showing the dead and lively dogs in sight. Now the unmarked white van quietly patrolled the streets and grabbed stray animals, they said.
In Casablanca, the animals are wrapped up by a van with the logo of local government development company Casabia. The company’s website, owned by the municipality, claims that “teams of experts are permanently mobilized,” and “catch and trap” more than 20,000 stray dogs a year.
CNN reviewed footage prepared by animal rights groups showing dogs being dragged into a Casabia car with metal chains. The little dogs are shown to be caught in a fishing net, and their bodies bump into pain before being thrown into a white van.
Originally from Indiana, Captain Erin moved to Casablanca with her husband last year, and soon became a wanderer in her hometown. “They are great creatures,” she said. “I’ve started caring for two puppies: vaccinate them and feed them and watch them grow.”
After that, the dogs from the neighborhood began to disappear. The captain told CNN that Casa Baia Vans were wandering the streets day and night. One night, she says she came for her puppy.
“They took them from outside our house and kicked them,” she recalls. “One broke a small leg, the other was kicked and killed. It was a nightmare. I was afraid. My husband had to intervene before he could run.”
For several months, the captain paid to vaccinate as many dogs as possible. “But anyway the dog catcher came and killed it,” she said. “It’s more wilder than you could imagine. I won’t sleep anymore.”
A spokesman for Casa Baia, who reached CNN, declined to comment on the accusations of killing stray dogs or using inhumane methods to catch them.
FIFA has been recognizing Moroccan dog culling since at least 2023. That March, the European Links Union (ELC), a UK-based NGO, met with senior FIFA officials to present evidence of Culling’s rise ahead of the 2030 World Cup. The material included dozens of photographs, videos and witness testimony. Some refer directly to Casabia.
In April 2024, FIFA Human Rights Advisor Marta Piazza told ELC that the organization was involved in “really assessing” their views and “encouraging alignment with FIFA bidding requirements” with the Moroccan government.
A “suggested method” has been promised over the next few weeks.
According to the ELC, FIFA was silent. The organization says it hasn’t heard from the square or her colleagues since. In response to CNN’s request for comment, FIFA said it was “in contact with animal welfare groups on this important issue.”
The Moroccan government is taking steps to regulate dog culling habits.
Last month, Roudani and his colleagues submitted a draft law that would halt the killing of stray animals and require municipalities to implement the TNVR program.
In a statement to CNN, FIFA contacted the Moroccan Football Federation and said it had “confirmed that many measures have been implemented over the past five years,” citing a new law for the work aimed at balancing public health and animal welfare.
The issue has attracted global attention ahead of the 2030 World Cup, with celebrities such as Ricky Gelweiss and Peter Egan denounce the murder of X and calling it a “massacre.”
“Soccer fans all over the world love dogs,” Minky Wardon of Human Rights Watch told CNN. “If FIFA doesn’t take concrete action, animal abuse can become a major PR issue.”
“It’s not just an animal abuse issue,” added Nick McGeehan, co-director of rights group Fairsquare. “You have clear knowledge of the problem and choose to ignore them. It’s a violation of basic human common sense.”
