Société Protectrice
des Animaux du Maroc

The Humane Society
of Morocco

Cat Overpopulation

CAT OVERPOPULATION

Cat overpopulation is a problem all citizens of Morocco must solve together. Rescue groups and shelters simply cannot do it alone.

The problem

Thousands upon thousands of kittens are born every day — to family pets, stray cats living on the streets, and feral cats. As each kitten grows, it produces more kittens. And when those kittens grow up and start to reproduce, the cycle continues.

The result? Too many cats and not enough homes for all of them.

The very few Morocco animal rescue shelters are full all the time, and unable to take in the continuous stream of cats and kittens that need help. Having such a large number of cats living on the streets is a problem for both the cats and the community:

  • The cats pose a health risk to humans and other animals as they defecate anywhere they please, get into the trash, and carry deadly diseases such as rabies.
  • They also may scare away wildlife, such as birds, or frighten small children.

The solution

The Humane Society of Morocco believes the problem needs to be addressed at its very root. As many cats as possible need to be spayed or neutered to prevent the unwanted litters that make up the bulk of the overpopulation problem.

The HSM performs hundreds of spay and neuter surgeries every year. That sounds like a lot, but the cat overpopulation problem doesn’t seem to be subsiding. To see any difference in Morocco’s cat overpopulation problem, three actions need to be taken:

  1. Any owned cat must be spayed or neutered, even if it’s an indoor cat.
  2. Stray cats must be rescued and spayed or neutered before they are adopted out to loving families.
  3. Feral cats can be trapped, neutered, and returned through our TNR Program.