Wholesale Blanket Bans On Dog Walking

Ian Cawsey MP (Lab.) accuses local councils of implementing blanket bans on dog walking. The summer season ban on dogs is currently in force on many beaches around the country. Disturbingly these ban periods seem to be growing in length and on some beaches, have become all year round.

The MP recently tabled an early day motion, (Coastal Access For Dogs) to the Commons calling for the new Draft Marine Bill to include increased access to the English and Welsh coasts for dogs and responsible dog owners.

The Draft Marine Bill seeks to provide people with the right to walk around the whole of the English coast, with free access to wider areas such as beaches, headlands and cliffs. Defra consultation on the Bill closed at the end of June.

However, there is growing concern that local councils are implementing overly restrictive local Dog Control Orders on land under their jurisdiction. Dog Control Orders replaced the old Dog Byelaws in April 2006. Unlike Dog Byelaws, Control Orders can be made at a local level by a local authority or a parish council.

Mr Cawsey told Winifred Robinson on BBC Radio 4's You and Yours programme today:

"What we are seeing at the moment is the wholesale blanket banning of dogs across the country."

The Kennel Club, an organisation with whom Ian Cawsey has worked closely on access for dog walkers, monitors all new Dog Control Order proposals by councils around the country. It publishes a quarterly update on its KC Dog site.