Owners walking their animal companion with a dog collar and lead is a familiar sight to those who visit the local parks.
The Royal Parks might be seeing a bit less of our four-legged friends though following new regulations which require professional dog walkers to fork out £300 to frequent there.
Royal Parks rolled-out the licensing system this month which demands that they not only pay for a permit but abide by a code of conduct which includes a limit of four dogs.
The £300 licence fee allows one commercial dog walker access to all the Royal Parks and those caught without one are liable for a fine or ban.
While professional dog walkers welcomed regulation of the industry and the reasoning behind it they are disappointed about the lack of consultation.
The Association of Professional Dog Walkers (APDW) chairman Lucy Bonnett said: "The thing we would like to get across is that there are professional people in this industry. There is obviously bad in every industry and these people need to be dealt with but not to the detriment of others."
