A decree issued by the Prague City Hall would ban people from walking their dogs without a leash in any green area within the city.

It is intended to prevent people from being attacked by dogs, as happened in the spring when a four-year-old boy was bitten by a dog on Petrin Hill.

As reported by Seznam Zpravy, The proposal was prepared by the Department of Environmental Protection of the Prague City Hall and will be dealt with by the council.

Any person walking a dog in a public greenery area would, under the proposal, be obliged to lead the dog on a leash in such a way that it “does not impede the movement” of other pedestrians. Only specifically designated areas, which can also be added within parks or other public greenery spaces, would allow owners to walk their dog freely.

“Any person walking a dog in public greenery area is obliged to lead the dog on a leash. The dog must be guided on a leash in such a way that “does not impede the movement” of other pedestrians. Free movement of dogs without a leash is allowed only on areas reserved for this purpose by the owner of public greenery,” says the proposal.

The planned ban on walking dogs without a leash is included in the proposal for a new version of the “generally binding decree on the protection of public greenery.”

“The draft decree has undergone an internal and external procedure and has not yet been submitted to the public for comments,” said Vít Hofman, a spokesman for the municipality.

In total, according to the current data, there are 90,183 dogs registered in Prague.

According to the STEM /MARK survey, three-quarters of Czech dogs are kept indoors.