Dog walkers nervous as council mulls limits
Professional dog walkers are nervous about city council moves to limit the number of dogs a person can be in charge of in public.
The Christchurch City Council is about to review its dog-control bylaw and Policy and has signalled changes could be on the way.
Currently there are no limits to how many dogs a person can walk, but dogs must be under “effective control” in public at all times.
A council spokesperson said the organisation was considering rules placing reasonable limits on the control of dogs in public places to improve public safety.
“We are aware that there have been issues with dogs not being under appropriate control when multiple dogs are taken out by one person.”
The council cited recent events in Auckland as a justification. Earlier this year a dog had to be put down there after it was mauled by dogs supposed to be under the control of a dog walker. “We are looking at whether it would be useful to limit the number of dogs a person can be in charge of, to provide greater clarity,” the spokesperson said.
To help the council develop the review, it conducted a survey to seek feedback on issues including whether dogs should be leashed on paths and in wetland/ stormwater areas, the length of leads and setting limits on the number of dogs one person can manage in a public place.
About 6200 people, including 5223 dog owners, filled out the survey and 48% wanted a limit, while 37% did not. Some 15% were not sure. On average, people said two to three dogs off leash and three to four on-leash would be a reasonable limit.
While many professional dog walkers in Christchurch welcome greater controls, they were concerned about the impact on their businesses if the limits were set too low. Julia Knoef, owner of Checkers Dog Walking, said the council should not adopt a one-size-fits-all approach.
Smaller limits could be put on recreational walkers, but professional dog walkers should be allowed higher numbers because there were some highly experienced, safe operators out there who had safely walked several dogs for years.
Knoef said she usually walked up to six dogs at a time and would have to raise her prices if limits were put in place, but she was not sure her clients would tolerate that. “It would damage the business and make it economically unviable. I’m always very conscious of taking more than a safe number. Five to six is manageable for me.”
Knoef and fellow professional dog walker Megan Perry are calling on the council to regulate the dog walking industry, with similar rules to those introduced in Wellington.
Wellington City Council requires professional dog walkers to obtain a licence to walk dogs in shared public spaces. To get a licence, dog walkers need to pass an animal services course, be assessed by an animal control officer, and pay $286.
Perry, owner of Mad About Dogs, has been a professional dog walker for six years and said a licence would “separate the cowboys from the professionals”. She
said if the council was going to put limits in place then it should settle on six dogs.
Dunedin recently proposed a six-dog limit, with no more than two off leash at any time. That restriction would change the “off-lead adventure” experience Perry offered dogs, she said.
The council said it was looking at what other councils were doing, but was not considering a similar approach to Wellington. Other questions asked in the council survey included whether people thought dogs should be leashed on shared paths, to which 76% said yes. People were asked if there should be better dog controls in Ōtākaro Avon River Corridor and at the council’s new stormwater basins to protect wildlife. More than 60% said yes.
The council asked whether it should change the definition of 'under effective control' to make it easier to understand. About half said yes, while 38% said no.
A draft bylaw and policy is expected to go out for public feedback later this year.