Promeneurs de chiens et gardiens d’animaux à London, Northern Ireland

Comment embaucher un promeneur de chiens à London

Traitez la rencontre initiale comme une entrevue. Demandez à voir une preuve d’assurance et toute certification en premiers soins pour animaux, demandez deux références de clients que vous pouvez réellement appeler, et confirmez comment les clés sont gérées (une entente écrite sur les clés est la norme professionnelle). Observez comment le promeneur accueille votre chien — un bon promeneur se met à sa hauteur et laisse le chien s’approcher. Convenez par écrit du service exact, du tarif, de la politique d’annulation et du plan d’urgence (quel vétérinaire, qui appeler).

Lois sur les chiens de l’État de Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is a separate legal jurisdiction, and it is the only part of the UK or Ireland that still requires an annual dog licence — under the Dogs (NI) Order 1983. That same Order, plus the Dangerous Dogs (NI) Order 1991, puts liability on the keeper AND on any person for the time being in charge of the dog, which is the walker.

Ces règles à l’échelle de l’État s’appliquent partout au Northern Ireland ; les règles locales qui régissent la promenade au quotidien se trouvent dans l’onglet Règlements municipaux.

The dog licence: Northern Ireland's unique rule

Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK or Ireland that still requires an annual dog licence. Under the Dogs (Northern Ireland) Order 1983 every dog over the age of 6 months must be licensed, and you buy the licence from your district council (one of the 11). The standard fee is £12.50 for a 12-month licence. A concessionary £5 rate applies for a sterilised dog or where the owner receives certain benefits, and owners aged 65 or over pay nothing to licence a single dog. A block ('pack') licence of £32 covers an owner keeping three or more dogs. A dog must be microchipped before a licence is issued. Keeping a dog without a valid licence can lead to prosecution and a fine of up to £1,000. This is genuinely different from the rest of the UK, where the dog licence was abolished in 1987 — in NI it is alive and enforced. [VERIFY: exact current fee figures should be reconfirmed with your district council, and the 'registered blind' concession is not separately itemised on the current nidirect page.]

Dangerously out of control and the banned types (Dangerous Dogs (NI) Order 1991, person in charge)

Under the Dangerous Dogs (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 it is an offence to let a dog be dangerously out of control, and the liability attaches to the keeper of the dog and, if it is in the charge of another person, that person — that is the walker's direct exposure. Five types are prohibited in NI: Pit Bull Terrier, Japanese Tosa, Dogo Argentino, Fila Brasileiro, and now the XL Bully. NI did not ban the XL Bully on the Great Britain dates; DAERA legislated separately. In NI the XL Bully rules came in on NI's own dates: from 5 July 2024 an XL Bully type must be muzzled and kept on a lead in public (and selling, gifting or breeding is prohibited), and from 31 December 2024 it is an offence to own one without an Exemption Certificate. Exemption requires the dog to be neutered, microchipped, licensed, and kept muzzled and on a lead in public. Penalties reach 6 months imprisonment and/or a fine up to £5,000. A walker should confirm any XL Bully in their care is exempted and handled to those conditions. [VERIFY: XL Bully exemption details and the 2026 changes — third-party insurance dropped from 1 July 2026 and a child-supervision duty from 1 November 2026 — should be reconfirmed to DAERA.]

Civil claims: keeper and person-in-charge liability (no Animals Act 1971 in NI)

Northern Ireland has no Animals Act 1971 — that Act extends only to England & Wales. Instead the Dogs (Northern Ireland) Order 1983 imposes the civil duties: Article 28 (worrying livestock and attacking other animals), Article 29 (attacks on persons), and Article 22 (straying), each attaching to the keeper of the dog and, if it is in the charge of a person other than its keeper, that person. Breach of those duties is made actionable for the damage it causes under Article 53. So both the owner and the walker who has taken charge of the dog can be pursued. The keeper has a defence only where the dog was in the charge of someone reasonably believed to be a fit and proper person — which is exactly what shifts the exposure onto the walker. A separate common-law negligence route is also available.

Microchipping, collar/ID and council dog-control orders

Microchipping is compulsory for dogs in Northern Ireland and has been since 9 April 2012 (Dogs (Amendment) Act (NI) 2011; Dogs (Licensing and Identification) Regulations (NI) 2012) — NI was ahead of Great Britain on this. Under the Dogs (NI) Order 1983 a dog must also wear a collar with the owner's name and address inscribed on it or on a plate attached to it, with a fine up to £1,000 for non-compliance. Local control runs through dog control orders made by the 11 district councils under the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act (NI) 2011: dog-fouling fixed penalties (commonly around £80, but set by each council and higher in some — up to £200), dogs-on-leads orders, exclusion zones (playgrounds, sports pitches, some cemeteries), and seasonal on-lead beach orders. Belfast, for example, runs a blanket on-lead order and a four-dog limit per person, while neighbouring councils permit off-lead in named parks. Orders vary by council, so a walker must check each area. [VERIFY: exact fixed-penalty figures vary by council and should be confirmed locally.]