Ixelles is most animal-friendly Brussels commune

Ixelles is the most animal-friendly municipality in the Brussels region, according to the results of a survey by animal welfare organisation Gaia.

Leuven is the most animal-friendly in Flanders and Braine-le-Comte won the top spot for Wallonia.

“As many as 84% of cities and municipalities indicated that they now have an animal welfare expert in the local police zone, and 78% prohibit citizens from setting off fireworks,” Gaia said in its report.

“Some 98% have actively worked to raise awareness about animal welfare, 79% provide shelter for stray cats and more cities and municipalities are providing a full plant-based alternative in school canteens and creches.”

As part of its survey, Gaia presented local administrators with an extensive questionnaire on 10 key themes, including raising awareness about animal welfare, setting up a full stray cat management programme, animal-friendly control of the pigeon population, keeping live animals out of markets and banning fireworks.

Results showed that while 18 of the 19 municipalities in the Brussels region have an alderman responsible for animal welfare, such an appointment does not always guarantee an effective animal welfare policy.

Gaia emphasised that the appointment must be backed up by “concrete, ambitious and coherent” actions while noting that the importance of animal welfare is increasing in the attention of municipalities.

For example, in 2018, 170 communes in Wallonia had an alderman for animal welfare. According to Gaia's calculations, this number has now risen to 242 out of a total of 262 towns and municipalities.

Among the worst-performing towns in Wallonia were Marche-en-Famenne (scoring 47%), Ciney (33%), Eupen (45%), Philippeville (49%), Couvin (48%), Eghezée (43%), Incourt (39%) and Boussu (23%).

Nevertheless, many Belgian towns took concrete measures during the last legislature, which Gaia said showed that animal welfare is becoming more visible in local policies, but does not mean the work is over.

“For example, it’s very important to consistently spay and neuter all stray cats,” the organisation said.

“Municipalities should also remind residents of the legal obligations to spay and neuter domestic cats. In addition, sufficient manpower and resources are needed to properly implement the policies.”

For Brussels, Ixelles achieved an animal-friendliness score of 97% and will symbolically receive an award for it, with runners up being Anderlecht with a score of 96%, and Auderghem with 94%.

In Flanders, the top three consists of Leuven (92%), Mechelen (91%) and Oudsbergen, Limburg province (86%). In Wallonia, the top three are Braine-le-Comte (93%), Farciennes in Hainaut province (91%) and Fléron, Liège province (90%).

The full results of the survey are available online at www.communepouranimaux.be.