The crucial argument no one's talking about.

There is no RSPCA professional dog walking “rule” that legally limits dogs or governs the profession and yet we have been impacted greatly as professionals. 

There is only general welfare guidance and best-practice advice, which is often misapplied to professionals. 

How can this have been applied to our businesses without any consultation? Or proof that the 6 we walk is a public safety concern ? 

When and where ? 

My main point — which seems to be consistently missed — is this: the RSPCA guidelines people keep referencing are designed for general public dog ownership, not professional dog walking. Using them to judge or restrict professionals is fundamentally misleading because it treats two completely different contexts as if they are the same thing.”

“We are talking about trained, insured professionals running structured dog groups as a business, not members of the public casually walking one or two pets. Those are not equivalent situations, and they should not be regulated or judged as if they are.”

“We have repeatedly asked councils to provide evidence or research showing that six dogs in the care of a professional dog walker compromises public safety. That evidence does not exist — because no such profession-specific research has been produced to support that claim.”
“What does exist in a professional context is practical, real-world frameworks such as the Dog Walking Charter in the New Forest — one of Europe’s most important conservation areas — which explicitly recognises the distinction between general dog owners and professional dog walkers, and treats them differently.”

“And that is the key principle everyone seems to overlook: professionals exist because they are different. We are paid for skill, control, experience, and responsibility. Like any profession, the service only exists because it delivers a higher standard than general practice.”
“So the question becomes: how can a general public welfare guideline be imposed on a professional industry in a way that affects livelihoods and business operations, without any evidence or formal regulation proving it applies to professionals?”

“Professional standards are set through insurance requirements, council licensing frameworks, conservation area agreements, and operational safety — not a one-size-fits-all recommendation written for pet owners.”

“Applying a general public guideline as a strict professional rule is a category error. It misunderstands the very definition of a regulated, skilled profession.”