Poison attack at Moroccan shelter for paralysed dogs and other animals kills 12 canines after poisoned meat was thrown into the yard
- Morocco Animal Aid charity has been forced to relocate after two lethal poison attacks on dogs at the shelter
- Dogs ate offal and intestines allegedly laced with blue poison by a neighbour and thrown into their enclosure
- Nine dogs died after going into shock after eating the meat and three more passed away several months later
- The charity, based in Agadir in Morocco, was forced to move its headquarters following pair of poison attacks
A Moroccan animal shelter has been forced to relocate after 12 dogs died when they ate meat allegedly poisoned by a hostile neighbour.
Morocco Animal Aid (MAA) had to find new premises after offal and intestines thought to have been laced with poison were thrown into a pen holding dozens of the shelter’s dogs.
Workers attempted to revive the dogs, pumping their stomachs of the meat which came out so covered in poison it made the rescuers ‘eyes sting’ according to founder Lucy Austin, but nine of the dogs were killed.
Three more died in the months after the alleged attack, which took place during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, because there were no vets available to treat the animals.
Austin said: ‘The same thing happened a few months later. In that case, however, we were able to take all the dogs to the vet where they were given an antidote for the poison and were put on special medicine.’
Following the pair of attacks, MAA, which is based in the Agadir region of Morocco, relocated its headquarters to a more rural area without neighbours.
A dog with a paralysed hind quarter walks using only his front feet in a shelter at Morocco Animal Aid’s site outside Agadir in south Morocco
A dog with paralysed back legs sits in a pen of dogs, all paralysed in some way, at Morocco Animal Aid’s shelter outside Agadir
Workers at Morocco Animal Aid clean a kitten’s eyes after they got infected when the cats were left alone by their mother who would usually lick them clean
A donkey rests in the sun in an enclosure at Morocco Animal Aid while recovering from a car accident that left her with a broken front leg
Cesar, a street dog with herpes around his mouth, hangs around the shelter despite being treated, vaccinated and released back to the streets by Morocco Animal Aid
Loki, a dog at Morocco Animal Aid, rests his head on the wire of his enclosure. He was picked up by the shelter staff from the side of the road after he was hit by a car leaving his back legs paralysed
Two donkeys recover and learn to walk again at an animal shelter outside Agadir after they were hit by cars in roadside accidents in Morocco
Austin said the first incident happened less than half an hour after workers had put the dogs out for the day.
They noticed some of the dogs were salivating, shaking and going into shock while in the garden and quickly took them out of the pen to the roof.
‘We were trying to evacuate the stomachs of the dogs ourselves with charcoal and olive oil, which is a natural remedy,’ Austin said, adding that no vets were available because it was Ramadan.
‘Some of the dogs vomited and we found blue intestines and offal that was so soaked in poison that it was burning our eyes.’
Nine dogs died hours after the poisoning while three suffered serious issues with their blood over the next three months before passing away as well.
‘We found intestines and offal hanging in the trees from the back fence to one of our neighbour’s house,’ Austin said.
‘We believe he had thrown the poison over and some of it had got caught in the trees and the dogs had obviously gone to eat it straight away in the morning because it was chicken.’
A kitten with a broken leg is cared for at Morocco Animal Aid’s shelter outside Agadir in south Morocco. The charity has been forced to relocate after 12 dogs were killed by a
Morocco Animal Aid had to find new premises after offal and intestines thought to have been laced with poison were thrown into a pen holding dozens of the shelter’s dogs (pictured, one of the shelter’s dogs which lost its leg after being hit by a car)
An injured puppy dozes in the sun as flies swarm over his body outside Morocco Animal Aid’s shelter in south Morocco after being rescued by staff
The injured puppy is put on an IV drip after refusing to eat or drink overnight, worrying staff, but he later passed away after workers were unable to stabilise him
A dog relaxes in a turned out tyre in the sun in an enclosure with donkeys at Morocco Animal Aid shelter outside Agadir in south Morocco
Donkeys and their offspring graze in a small enclosure next to the shelter’s dogs at Morocco Animal Aid’s site in south Morocco
Morocco Animal Aid (MAA) had to find new premises after offal and intestines thought to have been laced with poison were thrown into a pen holding dozens of the shelter’s dogs (pictured, a healthy dog in one of the enclosures)
Nine dogs died in the initial attack while three more passed away months later (pictured, a dog lounges in the sun as flies swarm its face outside the Morocco Animal Aid shelter)
Morocco Animal Aid had to find new premises after offal and intestines thought to have been laced with poison were thrown into a pen holding dozens of the shelter’s dogs (pictured, one of the shelter’s dogs which lost its leg after being hit by a car)
Two partially paralysed dogs relax in the sun in one of Morocco Animal Aid’s shelters outside Agadir. The charity is moving premises to a larger site nearby
A total of 12 dogs died in the alleged poison attack on the shelter, nine immediately and three in the months after (pictured, healthy dogs lounge in one of the enclosures)
MAA reported the incidents to the police, but according to Austin ‘nothing happened… officers came to the shelter and took my statement and that was it, we never heard anything from them again.’
Agadir police did not respond to requests for comment.
Austin said the pair of attacks were a ‘catalyst’ for the charity to move premises ‘outside of a residential district, in a more rural area with more space’.
‘We have more animals every day. We have rescues every day. We don’t plan to expand but it’s just what’s happening. We are getting far more animals in than we have managed to get out for adoption.
‘Where we can, we have moved towards vaccinating and sterilising animals and putting them back on the streets, but that is not always possible.
‘Often they need long term care and once they are rehabilitated it has been too long for us to put them back on the streets so we keep them.’
Austin explained MAA sends dogs to Swindon-based dog charity SN Dogs to help get the animals adopted outside of Morocco, clearing the shelter for new arrivals.
‘We hope to complete the move across to the new premises as soon as possible, within 12 months, so we can get away from the threat of poison, but it is really a case of financial support.
‘The more money we have the more likely we are going to be able to hire the right people to build the spaces that we need to accommodate the dogs in the manner that they deserve.’
MAA are fundraising here.
Two of the shelter’s animals (left, a donkey, right, a dog) relax in the sun after being rescued by Morocco Animal Aid and nursed back to health
A sickly dog lies on a bed of shavings in a bed outside the shelter while it waits to be vaccinated and checked before being released with the rest of Morocco Animal Aid’s dogs
A dog pants as it climbs one of the hills around Morocco Animal Aid’s shelter outside Agadir. The dogs rarely manage to get out on walks due to the sheer number of animals at the shelter and the low numbers of staff
A sickly dog lies on a bed of shavings in a bed outside the shelter while it waits to be vaccinated and checked before being released with the rest of Morocco Animal Aid’s dogs
Five dogs relax in Morocco Animal Aid’s enclosure after being out for the day by volunteers. The shelter is moving to bigger premises nearby after 12 dogs were killed in an alleged poison attack
A donkey rests in the sun in an enclosure at Morocco Animal Aid while recovering from a car accident that left her with a broken front leg
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