A braking device for a
rope pulley of a leash that can be wound and unwound mechanically for leading animals, in which the
rope can be unwound against the force of a spring from the
rope pulley and can be wound onto the rope
pulley due to the force of the spring. The braking device includes a
brake button, which can be brought from a
rest position, in which the rope pulley can rotate freely, into an active position, in which the
brake button blocks unwinding of the rope from the rope pulley. According to the invention, it is provided that the
brake button has a top part, which projects from the leash housing and which allows actuation by the user, and a bottom part, which interacts with the rope pulley and which is connected so that it can pivot on the top part in such a way that the bottom part can pivot in the winding direction of the rope in such a way that, in the active position of the brake button, unwinding of the rope from the rope pulley is prevented and winding onto the rope pulley is possible, and that, in the active position, the free end of the bottom part contacts the rope pulley with friction, in order to pivot the bottom part through a rotational movement of the rope pulley in the winding direction.