Dog owners in the Netherlands are in shock after a forest in Ulvenhout, in the province of North Brabant, was suddenly declared off-limits this week.
Authorities say dogs damage nature through nitrogen emissions from their waste.
Wolves on the other hand are allowed to roam freely through all forests and, under European regulations, are regarded as virtually untouchable.
“Madness,” commented Truus Kienhuis of the Jack Russell Association, representing one of the most popular dog breeds in the Netherlands.
Kienhuis said she cannot understand how municipalities can claim to protect nature by turning chihuahuas, golden retrievers and dachshunds into perceived threats, while wolves roam freely.
“These are completely derailed environmental rules. Dogs and farmers have to go. It starts with one forest banning dogs — and where does it end?” she told Brussels Signal.
The Jack Russell Club has more than 600 members. Since the ban was announced, several dog owners have contacted Kienhuis in distress, particularly because wolves have already been sighted in the same forest.
State Secretary for nature, Jean Rummenie, has warned it is no longer a question of if someone will be killed by a wolf but when. Germany is working on new legislation to make it easier to shoot wolves.
The Netherlands now has several wolf packs, and the number of cubs continues to grow.
“I just heard that alpacas have once again been attacked by wolves. So alpacas are no longer safe either,” Kienhuis says.
The municipality of Breda, which declared the forest off-limits to dogs on January 13, dismissed comparisons between dogs and wolves. “The two have nothing to do with each other,” a municipal spokesperson said.
Dog owners disagree. “Wolves are becoming increasingly dangerous, while we are no longer allowed — or able — to enter the forest,” Kienhuis says.
Ecologist Wiegel Wammelink of Wageningen University believes the municipality of Breda and the province of North Brabant have gone too far with the dog ban.
Nitrogen damage caused by dog waste occurs only locally, he told Brussels Signal. According to Wammelink, the impact from industry, farming and traffic is far greater. “We — as researchers at Wageningen University — would certainly never advise the national government that people should no longer be allowed to own dogs,” he said.
He does, though, argue for practical measures such as placing waste bins so dog owners can dispose of bagged dog waste in vulnerable forest areas. “We could, for example, remove parking spaces to prevent people from entering sensitive forests,” he said.
“The Netherlands belongs to all of us,” Wammelink stated. “But it does not belong to us alone. It belongs to everything that lives here.
“As humans, we have a duty of care.”
While the scientist claims that dogs are far more dangerous than wolves, the perception of wolves in Germany tells a different story.
Attitudes toward these predators are shifting. Agriculture minister Alois Rainer told public broadcaster ARD yesterday that Germany is now home to over 200 wolf packs, totalling around 1,600 animals.
“In terms of habitat, we have more wolves in Germany than in Russia,” Rainer said.
The government is considering new legislation to make it easier to shoot wolves, although Rainer emphasised that there is no intention to eradicate the species.
In the meantime, back in the Netherlands, multiple dogs have already been attacked by wolves, prompting authorities to urge owners to keep their pets on a leash.
In the autumn of 2025, a six-year-old border collie named Daisy was injured in a wolf attack and fled the scene. Despite an extensive search, no trace of Daisy was ever found.
A local woman who owns a golden retriever describes the situation as deeply troubling. “It’s a complete reversal of reality. In the future, a dog’s life may become seriously restricted because of the wolf. What matters more — our domestic dogs or the wolf?”
The Breda municipality authority emphasised that the forest affected by the dog ban is a designated Natura 2000 area. “We have developed a plan to restore the forest’s natural environment,” it said in a statement.
“Banning dogs from part of the forest is just one of 24 measures we are implementing,” a spokesperson told Brussels Signal.
“As we have stated, neither wolves nor national wolf policies have any connection to the Ulvenhout Forest.”
