By Meredith Ayan, Executive Director
A new partnership with Le Coeur Sur La Patte in Morocco is saving lives and changing the way the city of Agadir approaches animal population control. The city was overwhelmed by the number of street dogs, and city authorities dedicated themselves to sheltering them.
Municipal resources were stretched thin to care for so many animals and many litters were born in the shelter. SPCA International is proud to be partnering with Le Coeur Sur La Patte and the municipal shelter to improve their facility to segregate male and female dogs, support a massive spay and neuter effort and provide a six month education campaign aimed at schools and community groups.
Le Coeur Sur La Patte will work closely with the municipal shelter to keep the number of animals appropriate for the existing facility and will work with authorities to identify adoptable dogs and those that need specialized care. These steps are just the beginning of implementing a sustainable model of animal population control.
The city of Agadir stands as an example in a region where stray dogs and cats are often killed. The city is taking a proactive approach along with Le Coeur Sur La Patte to ensure stray animals are sterilized and vaccinated. This will greatly reduce the number of unwanted litters and will improve the health and safety of existing animals. With the additional focus on community education, Agadir is sure to also see an improvement in stray animal treatment, more sterilizations of family pets and higher adoption rates.
SPCA International is absolutely thrilled to support Le Coeur Sur La Patte and the city of Agadir as they pave the way for other cities in Morocco to adopt humane animal care and population control practices.