Ban on commercial dog walkers at Toronto park spotlights use of off-leash dog areas

TORONTO — Toronto is developing criteria to determine which sites would be acceptable for commercial dog walkers to use across the city, as a ban on the walkers at an off-leash area in one park has brought the issue under the spotlight.

The issue came before city council this summer, when a two-part motion brought by Coun. Dianne Saxe was passed in late June.

The motion saw council ask city staff to come up with rules to decide on sites for commercial dog walkers, and propose a list of those sites as part of a report due later this year.

The motion also had council ask for a ban on commercial dog walkers at an off-leash area of one city park – Ramsden Park, located in the affluent neighbourhood of Rosedale – with city staff currently working to implement that move.

Several commercial dog walkers say they’ve been caught off guard by the ban, and argue they should have been appropriately consulted by council.

“It happened so fast,” said Andrew Wood, who owns a dog-walking business and previously used Ramsden Park to walk dogs.

Wood said he’s worried that cutting off Ramsden Park to commercial dog walkers will force them into other, smaller parks, causing more congestion in an already limited number of green spaces available in the city.

“You have tax-paying citizens who are now unable to send their dogs to their community dog park, which seems completely unreasonable,” said Wood.

The motion brought by Saxe cited concerns from area residents and interest groups about an “acoustical anomaly” in the area, as well as congestion.

Some of the more prominent voices in favour of the ban at Ramsden Park came from the ABC Residents Association, which serves the interests of residents in the surrounding areas. The association’s main concern was noise disturbance related to commercial dog walkers using the off-leash area.

Neither Saxe nor Coun. Chris Moise, who seconded Saxe’s motion, responded to a request for comment.

A city spokesperson said municipal staff are currently implementing changes at the park’s off-leash area for commercial dog walkers, which includes posting signs about the ban.

“The city monitors the volume of complaints and then deploys bylaw enforcement officers based on a priority response model that takes into account the frequency and persistence of complaints and issues in parks,” Elise von Scheel wrote in a statement.

“As with any bylaw, the city first attempts to educate people about the rules. The goal is to resolve issues and ensure that residents are following the bylaw.”

The city issues permits to individuals who walk four to six dogs on a commercial basis. It records and tracks violations of its commercial dog walker permit policy and non-compliance with related municipal rules.

Commercial dog walkers say they would be willing to only use the off-leash area at Ramsden Park between the hours of 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., and have started a petition to call on the city to reverse the prohibition. The document had gathered almost 1,000 signatures by Tuesday afternoon.

Dog walker Jenn Reck, who helped organize the petition, said she and others in her line of work just want to be heard.

“The motion’s passed with absolutely no recourse,” said Reck. “We couldn’t talk about anything.”

Dogwalker Ana Alvarado said the prohibition means she and others in her line of work will have to drive dogs to parks much farther away.

“It’s not like we make that much money out of it either,” said Alvarado, “and then everything goes into your gas money because then you have to drive to more places.”

Alvarado also worried about the effects of the move on the dogs she cares for.

“Our dogs know each other,” she said. “This is where we do a lot of the training to have better pets and a better community.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 27, 2024.

Sheila Reid, The Canadian Press