A petition has been launched opposing the decision by Royal Parks to ban owners from letting dogs off the lead during during this year's deer-birthing season in Bushy and Richmond Parks .

Last month, the Royal Park said the new rules would help keep deer safe at a time of increased vulnerability and stress and revealed that there were 90 incidents of dogs chasing deer in the past year.

But petition founder Tamra Cave says that incidents of dogs attacking deer are minimal compared to the number of dog walks in the park every year, estimated to be 365,000.

"This new regulation is using a sledge hammer to crack a nut," she wrote in the petition's description.

"Keeping a dog permanently on a lead in a park is like giving a child a toy and saying you can't play with it!"

At the time of writing, the petition has 1,337 signatures and is nearing its goal of 1,500.

The Royal Parks' new rules came into force last Tuesday (4 May) and will be lifted in August. This week, two people are due to appear in court for letting their dogs chase the deer in the parks.

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Two people charged for letting dogs chase deer in Richmond and Bushy Parks

In her petition Cave proposed an alternative solution to the ban and explained in more detail why she was opposed to the rules.

She said: "The deer breeding areas can be marked on maps so as to be avoided and dogs kept on lead around these areas.

"We have never needed to keep dogs on leads any other year during breeding season.

"Last years rule changes were all about Covid."

She added: "Each year 90 deer are culled by Royal parks; shooting them to keep the deer population down.

"Last year saw 5 incidents of dogs causing the death of a deer in both parks.

"Let's do a realistic risk assessment here. We all need to work together as animal and park lovers to enjoy the park and keep everyone safe - deer, dogs, children, cyclists and runners.

"Let's be sympathetic to one another so we can all enjoy our beautiful parks."

The link to the petition is available HERE

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