By Les Ward MBE
Founder, International Animal Welfare Protection Coalition
Awarded the MBE by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for services to animal welfare
Football is a game that unites the world. It transcends language, borders, and politics. This week, during World Football Week, FIFA celebrates the power of the game to bring people together.
But as FIFA, the governing body, waves the banner of unity and inclusion, a tragedy of nightmare proportions is unfolding in one of its future host nations – a tragedy that should shame the sport to its core.
Morocco, one of the host countries for the FIFA 2030 World Cup and the sole host of the Under-17 Women’s World Cup this October, is presiding over a mass killing of street dogs, including those already tagged, vaccinated, and sterilised as part of humane programmes.
The International Animal Welfare Protection Coalition (IAWPC), a unified voice of global animal protection groups including the RSPCA, Dogs Trust, Soi Dog Foundation, and PETA, is calling for an immediate halt to this brutal campaign. It is estimated that as many as three million community dogs may be affected in the coming years, in what may become one of the largest state-enabled animal culls in modern history.
Tortured, not just killed
Let us be clear: this is not euthanasia. It is not humane. These dogs are being shot in the street, often in front of children, or dragged away with wire nooses to die slow, agonising deaths. Eyewitness reports and video footage from recent months reveal animals bleeding out on pavements, screaming in pain, or piled up in garbage trucks like rubbish.
Many of the dogs being targeted are not “strays” in the typical sense. They are community animals – beloved, cared for, and in many cases vaccinated and microchipped as part of public health programmes. Their “crime” is simply being visible ahead of a major global sporting event.
The world is watching, and speaking out
The legendary Dr Jane Goodall DBE, the world’s most respected primatologist and a UN Messenger of Peace, wrote personally to FIFA President Gianni Infantino in support of our campaign. Her letter urged him to intervene with the Moroccan authorities and use the weight of football to halt the killings. “This brutality,” she wrote, “is entirely at odds with the values of compassion, respect, and unity that FIFA claims to champion.”
She is not alone...
Celebrities including Ricky Gervais, Peter Egan, Chris Packham, Dr Marc Abraham OBE, and Lorraine Kelly have added their voices to the outcry – sharing messages of support on social media, wearing campaign t-shirts, and speaking out about the killings themselves.
Our movement will not stop until something is done. Moroccan people contact us every day in desperation, and we spend countless hours viewing and verifying unimaginable footage.
What all footballers need to know about Morocco’s killings
As players lace up their boots for World Football Week, here are five facts every footballer – and every fan – should know:
Every week, dogs are being shot or poisoned on the streets, causing prolonged and agonising deaths, often in full public view, including in tourist zones.
Many of the killed dogs were already sterilised and vaccinated as part of public health campaigns.
Local and international organisations have offered to help introduce humane alternatives, but were ignored or shut out.
The killings are believed to be politically motivated, aimed at “cleansing the streets” ahead of World Cup tournaments.
Children and families have been traumatised by witnessing brutal acts of cruelty and violence in their communities.
A message to the parents of U17 Women’s World Cup players
This October, Morocco will welcome girls from around the world to compete in the U17 Women’s World Cup.
To the parents of these young athletes – be aware that Morocco, at the moment, is a war zone for animals and its people. You should seek assurances from FIFA: what are they going to do to safeguard your daughters, so that they will not witness the daily violence and death being inflicted on dogs, will not hear the painful death cries of shot dogs, and will be kept away from streets still stained with the blood of wounded or dead animals?
Will their memories of Morocco be of goals scored and dreams achieved, or of the inhumanity inflicted on dogs by the authorities’ “killing teams” – watching animals writhe and die under the indifferent eyes of local officials?
A word to holidaymakers
Morocco is a country of stunning beauty, rich culture, and welcoming people.
But until the killing stops, tourists should ask themselves: do I want my hard-earned sunshine break to come with a front-row seat to daily animal cruelty and violence towards those individuals bravely trying to stop it?
Many travellers have reported, through written testimony, witnessing dogs being killed, dragged, or left to die in agony – often near major resorts.
Ask yourself – are these memories that have any place in your hearts, or deserve anything at all but our condemnation and contempt?
We all have the power to act
This is not about – and the IAWPC has never called for – Morocco to be stripped of the World Cup. It is about standards of decency and humanity towards other living, sentient creatures. It is about stopping the killings, introducing humane TNVR measures, and enacting a much-needed new animal welfare and protection law.
It is about what we, as a global community, will tolerate. FIFA, players, tourists, parents, and fans all have the power – and the responsibility – to speak out.
Write to your Member of Parliament and your local newspaper. Write to your national football federation. Tell FIFA this is unacceptable. Choose holiday destinations that align with your values. Share the truth about the Moroccan nightmare on social media.
It is in everyone’s gift to make a difference.
The world of football has the power to inspire greatness, but it must never be built on blood and violence, traumatised children, and human rights violations.
Let us not turn a blind eye while the cost of a football tournament is paid through the lives of the voiceless and most vulnerable in society.
You can find out more about the campaign at www.iawpc.org