Ixelles, Leuven and Braine-le-Comte have been named the most animal-friendly municipalities in Brussels, Flanders and Wallonia respectively.
Animal rights organisation, GAIA, revealed Belgium's most animal-friendly municipalities on Friday by assessing local governments’ animal welfare policies and their implementation.
In 2018, Wallonia had 170 animal welfare councillors. Now, there are 242, which represents a 42% increase across 262 towns and municipalities. The number of councillors in Flanders has increased from 95 to 250 over the past legislative term.
In the Brussels-Capital Region, 18 out of 19 communes have a dedicated animal welfare councillor.
GAIA's survey involved local officials answering an in-depth questionnaire on ten major topics. These included raising awareness of animal welfare, implementing comprehensive stray cat management programmes, banning live animals at markets and prohibiting fireworks.
In Brussels, Ixelles achieved the top score of 97% and will also receive an award. Anderlecht scored 96%, and Auderghem 94%.
In Flanders, Leuven led with 92%, followed by Mechelen with 91%, and Oudsbergen with 86%.
In Wallonia, Braine-le-Comte (Hainaut) scored 93%, earning it a symbolic award from Gaia on Friday. It was followed by Farciennes (Hainaut) with 91%, and Fléron (Liège province) with 90%.
The survey indicates that animal welfare is becoming increasingly important to municipalities. Many towns have implemented significant measures in the last term, demonstrating that animal rights are gaining visibility in local policies, according to GAIA.
However, many actions still need to be undertaken. GAIA noted that the presence of animals at markets is still allowed in some Walloon municipalities.
