When walking the city, especially the Circuit de Playas on a weekend morning it is impossible not to confront numerous dog walkers, many power walking in sports shoes and lycra with obedient dogs trotting alongside. This is obviously a common sight in the cities the world over, though something which seems to set Lima apart is that these are very much city dogs. Whereas in London’s parks you will see large, muddy dogs leaping across the grass in addition to their well-groomed cousins, here the manicured and dapper dog abounds. I experienced the full extent of this on Sunday morning, when I happened upon a mini dog-themed market in one of the parks along the clifftop.

Dog owners and their pets mingled in the small square of tents and stalls, advertising the expected vet services and adoption agencies, though there also featured an array of dog attire… Pink, fluffy dog dresses, dog sports and branded dog clothes were all on offer as well as dog hair accessories and – perhaps the most disturbing – dog shoes. These were clearly not reserved for only the fashion-conscious owner, as there were a great number of dogs actually wearing the shoes too. Dogs like mud, dogs like sniffing other dogs’ bums and dogs crap in the street. Dogs have feet designed for outside living. Like giving a steak knife to a lion to devour its prey, as if evolution failed to equip it with razor sharp canines, this is not the sort of animal which requires shoes.

When walking the city, especially the Circuit de Playas on a weekend morning it is impossible not to confront numerous dog walkers, striding along in sports shoes and lycra with their obedient pets trotting alongside. This is obviously a common sight in the cities the world over, though something which seems to set Lima apart is that these are very much metro-mongrels. Whereas in London’s parks you will see large, muddy dogs leaping across the grass as well as to their better-groomed cousins, here the manicured and dapper dog abounds. I experienced the full extent of this on Sunday morning, when I happened upon a mini dog-themed market in one of the parks along the clifftop path.

Dog owners and their pets mingled in the small square of tents and stalls, advertising the usual vet services and adoption agencies. In addition, there also featured an array of stalls selling dog attire… Pink, fluffy dog dresses, dog sports tops and branded dog clothes were all on offer as well as dog hair accessories and – perhaps the most disturbing – dog shoes. These were clearly an essential purchase not only for the fashion-conscious owner, as I spied a great number of dogs actually wearing the shoes too.

Dogs like mud, dogs like sniffing other dogs’ bums and dogs crap in the street. Dogs have feet designed for outside living. Like giving a steak knife to a lion to devour its prey (as if evolution had failed to equip it with razor sharp canines) this is not the sort of animal which requires shoes.