Morocco Faces Outcry Over Brutal Culling of Stray Dogs and Puppies

Without any remorse, municipal agents have this week proceeded to shoot stray dogs. While some of these domestic animals have been savagely mutilated, others have been buried alive, in defiance of the rules in force.

In one of the widely circulated videos, we can see two men in orange vests unloading from a vehicle the bodies of blood-stained dogs as well as live puppies to throw them into a pit and bury them there. These shocking images have provoked a wave of outrage on social media from many residents of the region. Unanimously, they demanded that the perpetrators of this carnage be held accountable before the courts.

The president of the commune, Mohamed Qacha, attributed responsibility to the agents who killed the dogs, denying having ordered them to bury the puppies. He also claimed that the agents in question had been "disciplined", assuring that the buried puppies had been "exhumed and placed in a safe place". According to him, the decision to kill the stray dogs was taken in coordination with the local authorities following numerous complaints from the inhabitants.