Worried professional dog walkers in Leeds have taken a huge step forward in their bid to change rules which they claim would have destroyed their businesses.
Professional dog walkers today spoke out over new powers limiting the number of dogs walked by one person at the same time to four. They claim that the proposals would damage their businesses and asked the council to reconsider the limit and set it at six.
The measures were intended to tackle owners who do not clear up after their pets and deal with nuisance and dangerous dogs in public parks.
But a delegation of dog walkers today told the environment and neighbourhoods scrutiny board that a u-turn was necessary as only being able to walk four dogs at a time would make their businesses financially unviable.
They said that the new rules would not have an impact on dog fouling as most professional dog owners picked up after the dogs anyway, and that its impact on out-of-control dogs would be minimal as professional dog walkers vetted their dogs before taking them out. One dog walker added:
"We are not a cowboy industry."
The limit of four was chosen after 68% of people who responded to a public consultation said that was their preferred maximum.
Councillor Lisa Mulherin said she had no problems with responsible dog walkers, but said she was concerned about packs of dogs scaring youngsters in Leeds parks.
Councillor Geoff Driver said there needed to be more work on educating dog owners while Mohammed Iqbal said he was not questioning the professionalism of people's businesses, but said he was concerned about public safety.
The environment and neighbourhoods scrutiny board instructed council officers to explore the introduction of a licence for professional dog walkers, which would be backed up by a Leeds dog walkers' code of conduct. The licence would allow up to six dogs to be taken on walks at any one time.
