Dog walkers campaign against proposed PSPO in Bromley
Dog walkers fear they will lose a third of their potential earnings if a newly proposed Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) comes into force by Bromley Council.
The proposals would mean dog walkers with a licence from the council will not be allowed to walk more than four dogs and will be restricted to keeping two of them on the lead, as opposed to the current maximum of six dogs.
Dog owners and walkers in the area have launched a petition asking for members of the public affected by the rules to fill in the consultation questionnaire and to make a complaint to the council to prevent the regulations from coming into force.
Dog walkers have warned that the plans could confuse pets who are used to going out with a dog walker and other dogs on a regular basis, while dogs which are kept on the lead will be getting less exercise.
In addition, dog walkers could be forced to either let down some of their customers to oblige to these new restrictions or extend their working hours, which may not be possible in the winter months, according to the petition.
The new proposals will be valid for three years if confirmed, with the council having launched a five-week consultation period before making a final decision.
Bromley has recently been rated as the “best place to live in London for green space”, according to the the London Borough Index by Essential Living.
You can find the petition here and view Bromley Council’s plans here.
One Comment
Tom Holloway
I am writing because I am a canine behaviorist based in London and I foresee us heading towards quite a problem.
The reason being is according to Hammersmith & Fulham dog ownership has risen 29% in the borough and according to Statista (2022) ‘Between 2019/20 and 2021/22, the share of UK households owning a pet dog jumped from 23 percent to around 34 percent’.
However major cities councils are restricting the number of dogs that can be walked at one time and where they can be walked thus decreasing the amount of land available to walk dogs.
The most significant reduction in land available is PSPOS and over summer when parks get busier but live music events also take away huge parts of park land for weeks at a time for construction, the event and then deconstruction.
This forces the privilege owners with cars onto the roads to look for new spaces to walk their dogs, causing more congestion and pollution whilst driving a higher concentration of dogs into one space which is anti-social and dangerous.
The less privileged people without cars are then stuck with, on road or perimeter on lead walks or they even give up walking their dogs presenting a significant animal welfare concern.
Please note dogs must have the ability to run off lead in large spaces with their own kind and sniff each day or we will have serious behaviour problems. These behaviour problems will lead to more accidents and more dogs being rehomed. However, rescues are already pushed for space. This results in dogs who could have been rehabilitated being euthanized as rescues don’t have the time and space to do the work.
I believe all boroughs must ensure there is always a large (over 100 acre) space available for dogs to run off lead in every borough, every day.
OFF lead is important. I beleive the tragic accident involving Natasah Johnson was at least partly due to the dogs being on lead, causing frustation, tension and tangle.
Its also true there is limited light, only so mnay proffesional dogs persons and costs for them are going up. If we restrict the amount of dogs that can go out we have a welfare concern. If we restirct what proffesinonals can earn they won;t invest in themselves, they may leave the inductry and we will be left with inexperience, hobbyist type walkers making dog walking MORE unsafe.
I suggest that live music events are restricted to stadiums in the cities or otherwise move back out to the countryside where there is a larger abundance of land with a lower concentration of people.
I suggest PSPO’s allow for 4 dogs per person, maximum 8 between two in over 100 acre spaces, 4 per person no double group under 100 acre and walkers are encoraged to ensure ALL DOGS OFF lead. If they can’t be safely then they should go through training before being on groups and then be OFF LEAD!