Dog walkers could face stricter rules on pack size

Walker Anna Addison-Milne said it is hard to tell how a large group of dogs will react to one dog

Professional dog walkers in East Sussex could see stricter limits on the number of pets they can take out.

Brighton & Hove councillors have called for changes, citing a lack of regulation and a growing number of commercial dog walkers.

Walkers can voluntarily sign up to Brighton and Hove City Council's register, which means agreeing to several rules including only walking the number of dogs covered by their insurance policy.

But the council is now reviewing how it could bring in stricter rules due to "growing evidence of a need for more effective regulation".

The review comes after a council meeting last week where concerns were raised over people walking up to eight dogs at a time in green spaces such as Waterhall, as reported by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The RSPCA advises that people walk no more than four dogs at any one time.

'Intimidating'

Walker Anna Addison-Milne told BBC Radio Sussex: “I think there are too many dogs for one person at the moment, I think it should be four rather than eight.

“I’ve seen two people with 16 dogs, they obviously know each other and the dogs know each other but it’s quite intimidating if you see a pack of dogs in the distance. You don’t know how they’re going to react.”

Steve Hall, another walker, added: “I would say three to four is the maximum unless you’re very experienced and can prove that you can cope with that number of dogs.”

Two other commercial dog walkers told the BBC it was hard to get licence requests approved due to cuts within the council which meant there were fewer wardens.

A Freedom of Information request revealed the council reduced the service from five wardens to two between 2015 and 2017.

Councillor Jackie O’Quinn said: “There are huge concerns about how unregulated this is. I know some authorities have been able to put a limit on numbers."

Councillor David McGregor, the council’s chair of licensing, said: “We are currently conducting a review of our approach to professional dog walking and general dog control with the intention of developing a long-term strategy.

“There is growing evidence of a need for more effective regulation in this area and our licensing team are currently scoping out options for this.

“In the meantime, any applications for our voluntary scheme will be processed as usual.”