From this Monday, April 15, until June 30, 2024, walking your dog without a leash off the trails can earn you a big penalty. We’ll explain it to you.
A walk that can be expensive: from April 15 to June 30, 2024, walking your dog without a leash in a forest can result in your owner being fined up to 750 euros.
If you have a dog, you may know: throughout the year, your canine can roam freely, as long as he remains under your supervision and does not stray more than 100 meters of your position. On the other hand, it is forbidden to let your dog wander in cultivated or uncultivated land, meadows, vineyards, orchards, woods and in marshes and on the banks of watercourses, ponds and lakes, reminds the service site. -public.fr. In addition, a mayor can also prohibit access to certain places for dogs, even if kept on a leash. These measures are displayed between public gardens for example, or beaches.
A protective measure for birds and mammals
What about the fort then? During the period from April 15 to June 30, it is prohibited from walking dogs not on a leash outside forest pathsas planned the judgment of March 16, 1955 relating to the ban on stray dogs.
A ban put in place to prevent the destruction of birds and all species of game and to encourage their repopulation, further explains the ruling. As the site notes thank you for the infothe National Forestry Office (ONF) provides more details: The forest is home to a very varied range of wildlife, including many species classified on the red list of protected species in France. Respecting their tranquility means ensuring their survivaltheir reproduction and the balance of forest ecosystems.
However, the organization says, spring is the period when the birth of mammals and the nesting of birds begins. Equipped with an extremely keen sense of smell, dogs could easily spot new born birds in forests and birds nesting on the ground in open spaces (moors and wastelands). By their simple presence, they could disturb and stress forest animals particularly sensitive during this period and thus endanger their reproduction.
The forest alley is understood in the broad sense as roads, paths or forest trails, in particular GRs, but also all walking paths, recalls the ONF on his website. On the other hand, forest partitions, firebreaks and plot boundaries are not considered paths.