Pet supplement brand YuMove has launched a new initiative to encourage women to form dog walking groups so they can continue to exercise their pets safely and confidently after dark during the winter months.
The brand has partnered with safety app WalkSafe to launch the NightWalkies initiative and has created a downloadable toolkit offering advice for female dog owners on how to organise local walking groups.
Research by YuMove revealed that nearly two thirds of women in the UK walk their dogs less when the clocks go back and the evenings get darker, with 83% of them saying that their dogs get up to 30 minutes less walking each day as a result. Personal safety was cited as the biggest concern by 61% of women, followed by concerns around poorly lit streets and lack of safe walking routes (57% of women) or worries about drunk or anti-social behaviour (54%). As many as 74% of women surveyed said they would welcome an organised community walk outdoors when the evenings get darker.
YuMove hosted the first NightWalkies event in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, this week, led by the company’s chief executive Fiona Hope and attended by officials from WalkSafe and female dog owners from the local area.
Hope said: “When women feel safer, dogs can enjoy more of the exercise that keeps their joints healthy, their tails wagging, and their wellbeing thriving. With NightWalkies, we’d like to help out.
“NightWalkies is a simple idea based on a confronting fact – that women dog owners walk their dogs less than men, often because they feel unsafe in the dark. We’d all prefer that wasn’t the case, so NightWalkies is a way to connect with other women in your community whilst ensuring your dog is happy and healthy all winter long.”
