N
ew guidelines aimed at protecting
the welfare of commercially walked
dogs have been published by
the Pet Industry Federation (PIF), amid
growing concerns about this generally
unregulated industry.
As expected from guidance endorsed
by Dogs Trust and the RSPCA, the 16-page
document includes extensive best practice
advice on how dogs should be walked,
transported, and protected from harm in
the outdoors.
However, there are fears the advice will
drive up costs and not be as ef ective as it
could be, due to out-of-date content on
relevant legislation, a lack of engagement
with local councils and other landowners,
and the concerns of businesses currently
approved to walk more than four dogs.
Where commercial dog walking is
currently regulated, in particular around
London, local councils have allowed one
person to walk up to eight dogs, where
there is sui cient space, and the dog
walker is experienced and has no history of
complaints. In 2006, Defra recommended
that six was the maximum number of dogs
a member of the general public could
control. This i gure was then adopted more
widely, such as by East Lothian Council’s
award-winning professional dog walker
scheme, the Association of Professional
Dog Walkers (www.apdw.org.uk), the Welsh
Government, and pet business insurers.
But this new guidance has reduced the
recommended maximum number of dogs
to four, and many professional dog walkers
would not comply, and so would be very
unlikely to promote or adopt the guidelines
in full. They could reduce the number of
dogs they walk to four, but have expressed
fears that pet owners will face a 50 per cent
Stephen Jenkinson reports on the latest moves
relating to what is a largely unregulated industry.
CONCERNS OVER
DOG WALKERS’
GUIDANCE
http://www.yourdog.co.uk 63Images: Stephen Jenkinson.ABOUT STEPHEN
Stephen Jenkinson is
an expert on where
you can go, and what
you can do with
your dog. He’s access
adviser to Your Dog
Magazine, the Kennel
Club, and local councils
across the UK and
abroad. He lives in
Orkney.or more increase in costs, and so have their
dogs walked less often.
The Kennel Club (KC) has always opposed
setting an arbitrary maximum number
of dogs. It prefers a ‘quality not quantity’
approach given that, for example, two
badly trained of -lead Leonbergers can
be more of a problem than six on-lead
Chihuahuas. It could be argued that rules
applying to small parks in London are not
directly applicable to quieter and more
extensive areas of coast, woodland, and
countryside, nor where businesses rent
securely fenced i elds to walk dogs, away
from the general public.
Instead of a maximum number, the KC
prefers the use of more targeted powers
that local councils already have; these can
restrict where any dog walker, private or
commercial, can go, limit numbers, and
force them to keep dogs on a lead if they
have actually been causing a problem.
As the KC also shares concerns about
poor welfare standards and unprofessional
behaviour, in 2017 it launched onlinesurveys with landowners, dog walkers,
and pet owners. Over 2,500 people
responded with over two-thirds of
landowners saying that a general limit
on the number of dogs would be ignored
by irresponsible operators.
The surveys also highlighted that
16 per cent of people didn’t think it
essential that dog walkers were insured,
and 14 per cent thought it acceptable to
exercise dogs of -lead without getting the
owner’s permission.
Given these concerns, in 2018 the KC
started developing its own code of practice,
in partnership with the local councils and
landowners it routinely works with, but
suspended the project to avoid confusing
the public once it was announced that the
PIF guidance would be published i rst.
For now, dog owners are recommended
to read the guidance at http://www.petcare.org.ukCommercial dog walkers and
their charges enjoying a stroll.Some dog walkers expressed
concern about the guidelines.CLICK TO LISTEN