Breaking: PETA Supporters Crash Morocco Soccer Match During FIFA Club World Cup to Protest Dog Slaughter

For Immediate Release:
June 18, 2025

Contact:
Sara Groves 202-483-7382

Moments ago, a pair of PETA supporters holding signs declaring “Morocco – Stop Shooting Dogs and Cats!” rushed the field at the Morocco vs. Manchester City soccer/football match during the FIFA Club World Cup at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia to protest the rounding up and violent killing of homeless animals in Morocco as the country prepares to host the 2030 FIFA World Cup. The animal defenders were tackled and dragged off the field in front of thousands, reminiscent of horrific footage out of Morocco that shows dogs being dragged to their deaths and men with rifles shooting dogs down in full view of the public, including children. Photos and videos of the protesters are available here. 

A new video showing one of the terrified dogs screaming as she is being roughly rounded up, dragged along the pavement, and tossed into a truck that will take her to slaughter is here. 

“Dogs are being gunned down, set on fire, and killed in other horrific ways simply for the sake of a soccer tournament,” says PETA Executive President Tracy Reiman. “PETA is urging Morocco to stop the slaughter and uphold the country’s commitment to treat animals humanely.”

PETA points out that while Morocco’s King Mohammed VI gave a royal order to end the country’s decades-long massacre of homeless dogs and cats in 2019—with authorities there signing an agreement to stop the killing—the pledge didn’t hold. Homeless animals are being snatched off the streets, shot, poisoned, burned alive, and left to die in cages without food or water, among other atrocities.

PETA is also calling on FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, to urgently step in and stop the mass slaughter taking place on its behalf, and has asked soccer icon and proud dog guardian Cristiano Ronaldo to step up for canines by donating a small portion of his earnings to help fund spay and neuter clinics in Morocco.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kitsfor people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.