King Charles estate forcing pro dog walkers to get a permit

Professional dog walkers will have to get a permit to work on royal land under new rules revealed this month.Windsor Great Park, Swinley Forest, and Buttersteep Forest — all owned by the Crown Estate — will require professional dog walkers to obtain a permit to use their land from the end of March.They will also limit the number of dogs a person can walk at a time to four.But Sarah Stanford, from Datchet, near Windsor, Berks., says she needs to walk six dogs at once for her business to be viable – and claims she has not been given enough notice to finance an expensive new license. The dog walker, who has 18 years’ experience, says she is insured to walk six dogs – as are many of her colleagues. She therefore does not understand why the Crown Estate have introduced the ‘four dog rule’ – and is worried she will no longer be able to afford to run her business once the changes come into force. Sarah, 59, said: “To make any of our businesses viable, we need to be able to walk six dogs. “We’re all insured to walk six – and insurers are the pickiest people in the world. “So I’m really not sure where the number four has come from. “There was no proper consultation about this and it means that I’ll have to completely change my business model. “Costs will have to be passed on to my customers and I worry I’ll lose business as a result.“It really is near catastrophic.”It was announced last week that from March 31 professional dog walkers using Windsor Great Park, Swinley Forest, and Buttersteep Forest must obtain a permit to keep working there. The permit for Windsor Great Park will cost £500 [$622.91 USD] while the permit for Swinley Forest and Buttersteep Forest will cost £600 [$747.49 USD]. This, the Windsor Estate said, will help “manage and regulate the number of professional dog walkers who operate on the Estate”, “improve and safeguard the visitor experience across Windsor Great Park and Forests”, and “safegua...