Dozens of stray dogs have been rounded up and shot in Morocco ahead of a visit by FIFA to assess the country's suitability to host the World Cup, it has emerged.

Pictures show some of the strays piled up amid claims of a cull in the coastal resort of Tamraght, to the north of Agadir while separate images show blood on the road.

Footage also shows a dog falling injured to the ground before its lifeless body is dragged away in the Agadir suburb of Aourir.

The video was posted by the Swiss NGO 'Tierbotschafter' ('Animal Ambassadors').

Stray dogs are being rounded up and shot in Morocco ahead of a visit by FIFA to assess the country's suitability to host the World Cup, it has emerged. Pictures have been shared by a Swiss NGO showing a pile of dead strays

Footage also shows a dog falling injured to the ground in before its lifeless body is dragged away (pictured) in the Agadir suburb of Aourir

It said the images come ahead of a visit by a FIFA delegation to assess the country's bid for the 2026 World Cup.

Many of the animals had only recently been vaccinated and castrated as part of a programme to humanely control the population, the NGO claimed, while others still showed the earmark attached by the group.

Tierbotschafter chief Brigitte Post said: 'Since that night [last week Thursday] dozens of dogs from our castration and vaccination programme have been shot, injured or taken away in a lorry while still alive.'

She claimed that the streets are being 'cleaned up' by the Moroccan authorities to leave a good impression on the visiting delegation.

Post said: 'In a flagship project in and around Agadir, we castrated over a thousand dogs, vaccinated against rabies, tagged them with an ear tag and returned them to their territory.'

The video was posted by the Swiss NGO 'Tierbotschafter' ('Animal Ambassadors'). It said the images come ahead of a visit of a FIFA delegation to assess the country's bid for the 2026 football World Cup

'Dog killing has proven to be pointless - neither the number of stray dogs nor those infected with rabies fall.'

A foreign national living for many years in the Agadir area said he witnessed the scenes.

He said: 'I woke up to the sound of gunshots. Around 30 to 40 armed men started shooting dogs in the middle of the town, regardless of whether or not they were labelled with ear tags as vaccinated and neutered.'

According to the man, who wished to remain anonymous, anyone who tried to take pictures or stop the gunmen from shooting was either threatened or arrested.

The man said: 'So we foreigners organised a rescue operation with the local population to accommodate as many dogs as possible in private homes.'

He said many tourists have now reported the action online.

Pictures show some of the strays piled up amid claims of a cull in the coastal resort of Tamraght, to the north of Agadir while separate images show blood on the road (pictured)

A FIFA spokesman said that the worldwide football organisation is in contact with the authorities of Moroccan cities and expects that these will ensure animal welfare

A FIFA spokesman said that the worldwide football organisation is in contact with the authorities of Moroccan cities and expects that these will ensure animal welfare.

The spokesman said: 'However, we cannot comment on Morocco, because the application process for the World Cup 2026 is running and a statement could influence this.'

Morocco has only one opponent in their bid to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup: a joint North American bid from Canada, the United States and Mexico.

Last week, the South American football organisation CONMEBOL said they would all vote for the North American bid.

The bid which gets a majority of FIFA members behind it wins the right to organise the tournament.

As the decisions to hand the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 bid to Qatar were marred by fierce criticism and corruption allegations, FIFA have decided that the 2026 vote will be held in public.

On June 13 2018, the 69th FIFA Congress in Moscow will decide which is the winning bid.