In view of the Football World Cup in Morocco, the German Animal Welfare Federation, together with the European umbrella organization Eurogroup for Animals and other animal welfare organizations, has appealed to the world football association FIFA. The animal rights activists are appealing to FIFA to take a stand against Morocco's plans to kill street dogs and to find an animal-friendly solution. According to media reports, the African country is planning to kill up to three million street dogs by the 2030 World Cup so that visitors to the tournament feel comfortable.
“In the five years until the World Cup, Morocco still has enough time to reduce the population of street dogs in an animal-friendly way - with the help of the 'catch, neuter, release' concept. We are calling on FIFA to use its influence to put pressure on the local authorities,” says Luca Secker, expert for animal welfare abroad at the German Animal Welfare Federation. “Killing millions of animals would be cruel and senseless.”
In its letter to FIFA, the Eurogroup for Animals, to which the German Animal Welfare Federation also belongs, points out that killing street dogs is not a suitable means of reducing the population of street dogs in the long term. “The effect would be short-term at best,” explains Secker. “New dogs take the places of the killed animals because dogs migrate from neighboring areas and more young animals survive, which can use the vacated habitat and resources such as food.” Killing the animals would also contradict the current law in Morocco, which actually provides for the animals to be caught, neutered and released. This legal situation was one of the reasons why Morocco was awarded the contract to host the World Cup.
The animal-friendly method is also the method of choice in terms of disease protection, emphasize the animal rights activists: “In a dog population that is reduced but stable through castration, the risk of rabies decreases, as the resident animals, when vaccinated, contribute to herd immunity in the long term,” says Secker. This also protects humans from infection. Dog culls, on the other hand, are not efficient with regard to rabies in Morocco: “If vaccinated animals are killed and unvaccinated animals follow, the disease will never be controlled. From both an animal welfare and disease control perspective, it is therefore essential to focus on reducing the birth rate and providing health care for street dogs - just as Morocco stated in its application. We assume that this is also in the interests of many animal-loving people who would like to visit the World Cup in Morocco.”
