The PDWAI does not agree that the registration should be called a permit such as the legal department of the City is calling it. The meanings of the two words are in no way synonymous with eachother and they are considered to have vastly different meanings with completely differing outcomes.

The City of Toronto is calling it a permit but has been telling us that we are registering. The PDWAI will not accept or agree with either until it is determined exactly what the intentions are.

The PDWAI's position on a registration of dog walkers in the City of Toronto is that all professional dog walkers should register if any professional dog walker must register no matter how many dogs are walked.

Position on the issue of insurance:

The City of Toronto Parks division has now decided that it is not necessary for professional dog walkers to carry insurance or provide proof of insurance. The legal department changed their mind. We are not aware of the reasoning.

The PDWAI encourages all professional dog walkers members or not to be responsibly insured.

The PDWAI fully supports the notion that all professional dog walkers shall have at the least a one million dollar liability insurance policy including care, custody and control.

$100 registration fee:

A significant reason for why there needs to be a fee has not been determined. The City has not reported why a fee is necessary.

Our position is that we object to a fee.

The 6 dog rule:

Since the inception of the PDWAI, the organization has supported a limited number of six dogs per one person.

The PDWAI is in favour of a limit of 6 dogs per person in parks for the City of Toronto.

The 3 dog rule:

The Dips committee is going in the direction of implementing a two tier system.

The PDWAI objects to a two tier by law and does not see the necessity of limiting anyone to a maximum of three dogs.

The DIPS sub committee consists only of professional dog walkers of different types.

As this new system will affect ALL those who own and walk dogs, the PDWAI objects to the fact that there is no clear input from dog owners within the DIPS sub committee.

Dianne Eibner
Founder/President,

With the Board of Directors.
www.pdwai.com
1-866-39-PDWAI

The PDWAI as part of the sub committee for the Dogs In Parks Strategy Team for the Parks, Forestry and Recreation Division continue to struggle to get answers from the City Parks Dept. pertaining to the issues at hand with pro dog walkers with regards to the reasons why dog walkers should have permits. The PDWAI would like to see the bylaw set for a legal limit of 6 dogs per person in all areas of the City of Toronto. This, in our opinion would help to eliminate most of the problems that are occurring in parks since we have been told many times the complaints are of the number of dogs being walked in a park. Our stance is that paying for a permit to walk a maximum of 6 dogs would not change the fact that the dogs are still there. We would just be paying now to do something we have been doing for free in the past. We feel that a legal limit on the number of dogs walked would help to diminish the irresponsible dog walkers. And we have suggested that the City implement fines for violations of the Park Code of Conduct.

We do not want to design a permit system without first understanding legally why we need to do so. We have asked questions about how a permit system works and what the City has in mind. We have not received any answers. We are the only ones pushing to get answers and have now been labelled by Sandy Straw as being an aggressor. We cannot in good conscience go ahead and design a permit system based on being told it is a "no-no" to walk in a park and get paid for it. However, since we are not getting answers from the City and the rest of the members of the sub committee are not pushing for answers themselves, we are turning to you for guidance. We have created a questionnaire so that we can get your input on this issue.

One other thing we are not aware of yet is how many man hours it would take for the City to implement a registration of dog walkers. We have been asked to design a "process or system" to suit how we would like it. Possibly, the dog walker would give their name and company name to the City Parks Official Registration Supervisor and they would put their name on a list and tell them their insurance company. Maybe an application form would be filled out. It would be nice if this was free of charge.

We have no background experience on implementing such as system, although the City negotiates all the time, we feel that the City should be helping us design something by giving us the information that we've requested, before we go forward. The PDWAI does not want to walk into anything blind. If the City imposes a permit or registration system on us, then they will have to be prepared to do the work afterwards.Therefore our viewpoint is, we can design what we like but if the City just sits back and lets us do it all by ourselves without their input, they could fine tune it in order to suit their workload because they haven’t told us what it takes for them to implement it. If you'd like, you can read the questions that we have asked the City so far.

Diana and I would like to make a declaration that we are not adamantly against the idea of permits but we do not like the idea of going forward with implementing something in which we have no research of outcomes. We are not trying to be difficult or aggressive, we simply believe that we are entitled to have answers before we destine are livelihood. We are in support of putting something in place to add to the professionalism of dog walkers. PDWAI members all have business insurance, are registered businesses, and other credentials are obtained such as pet first aid and pet dog training experience and we limit the number of dogs walked to 6 maximum. If the City wants to use the likeness of the PDWAI's standards and requirements, and it benefits the industry then that would be wonderful. We happen to be thinking ahead and are wondering how the permit will change in the future, how it will affect our future and if dog walkers will have any say in the matter if it does change. There will always be bad apples but hopefully a distinction can be made.

We hope you will take the time to answer the questionnaire so that we can get input from you.

Thank you,

 
Dianne Eibner, Founder/President.
Diana Bolen, Vice President.