For a proper off-leash dog area in Fontainas / Simone de Beauvoir Park

We ask the City of Brussels to relocate and redesign the existing off-leash dog area (Dogzone) in Fontainas / Simone de Beauvoir Park and, together with local residents, dog owners and park users, identify a more appropriate location within the park.

The current dog area is small, heavily shaded and located in an isolated part of the park. Because it is hidden and rarely frequented, the area is regularly used for other purposes, including as an informal toilet and as a place for drug use. These conditions make it unwelcoming and unsuitable for dogs and their owners. In practice, many local dog owners avoid the area, meaning that it does not properly fulfil its purpose as an off-leash space.

At the same time, dogs are required to remain on a leash in other parts of the park. This rule is understandable and important for ensuring that different park users can comfortably share the space. But if owners are required to keep their dogs on a leash in shared areas, it is essential that they also have access to an appropriate place where their dogs can safely run off-leash.

Fontainas / Simone de Beauvoir Park has enough space to consider a better solution. We therefore ask the City of Brussels to engage in a dialogue with local residents, dog owners and park users to identify together a more appropriate location for the Dogzone and discuss its design.

The choice of the new location should take into account the experience of people who use the park and the Dogzone on a daily basis, ensuring that the new space is large enough, open, bright, safe and genuinely suited to dogs’ needs.

We are not asking for dogs to be allowed off-leash everywhere in the park. Quite the opposite: a properly functioning off-leash area would make it easier to respect leash requirements elsewhere and would contribute to better coexistence between all park users.

There is already a Dogzone in Fontainas. Let’s make it a space that actually works.

Why is this petition important?

The City of Brussels itself recognises that dogs need freedom for their physical and mental well-being and describes its Dogzones as spaces where dogs can run, explore, sniff and interact freely with other dogs.

In its 2024–2030 Majority Agreement, the City also committed to improving the place and reception of dogs in the urban environment, including through off-leash areas that are sufficiently large, while further developing its “Dog Friendly City” policy.

In a central, densely populated neighbourhood, where many residents live in apartments without access to a private garden, having an appropriate public space where dogs can run freely is particularly important.

We are therefore asking the City of Brussels to put into practice in Fontainas the animal-welfare principles it already supports, by working together with the people who use the park every day to develop an off-leash area that is sufficiently large, safe, open and genuinely usable.