Morocco Bans Lethal Methods for Controlling Stray Dog Population

In a ministerial note, the department of Abdelouafi Laftit, in response to criticism from national and international animal protection associations, called on municipalities and their health services to use less barbaric alternative methods.

Several activist associations had risen up against the large-scale massacre of stray dogs across the country. This practice, criticized in Morocco but also internationally, had prompted collectives to launch several petitions to put pressure on the authorities. This is the case, for example, of the Oujda City Citizens’ Collective, which has collected more than 50,000 signatures. Shot with rifles or killed with barbiturates, the dogs take more than 3 days to die.

An agreement had been signed by the Ministry of the Interior, the Departments of Agriculture and Health and the National Veterinary Authority, for the implementation of TNR (Trap Neuter Release), a solution to better control the populations of stray animals. The process involves capturing the animals, euthanizing the most dangerous ones, sterilizing and vaccinating them before releasing them.