Tue
Mar 4 2008
07:25 am
Consumer update: Dog groomers could be regulated
By: R. Neal

WATE has been following the story of a woman whose dog died under mysterious circumstances at a pet groomer. There was speculation that the death was due to overheating in a dryer cage.

As we mentioned here previously, there is proposed legislation in Massachusetts and New York to regulate pet groomers and to ban dryer cages.

WATE reported last week that State Sen. Tim Burchett (R-Knoxville) is proposing the same for Tennessee:

"We've got to regulate the grooming industry and if we don't, we end with people losing their animals and no animal deserves to die like that," Burchett says.

The senator wants cage dryers banned and he also wants licensing for groomers.

The report quotes a state groomer's association spokesperson as saying they oppose such regulation.

Last night there was a meeting of area groomers to discuss the issues. The woman whose pet died at a local groomer confronted the owner at the meeting. The owner publicly admitted what happened for the first time:

"The timer on the dryer cage got stuck and it was extremely hot and I got rid of the dryer and fired the employee," says Happy Tails owner Erik Webb.

According to the report, he apologized to "all the pet owners who lost animals at his facility."

As I said previously, it sounds to me like dryer cages should be outlawed. There should be other regulation, too, about the use of sedatives and making sure groomers are at least minimally qualified and are familiar with various breed standards for grooming.

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amy's picture

It is a convenience oriented

Submitted by amy on Tue, 2008/03/04 - 7:48am.

It is a convenience oriented world. Hot air blowers are not required to dry a dog. If the ambient temperature is kept warm a simple forced air unit will work.
I used to use a leaf blower to dry my dogs. It generated lots of air movement and had the added benefit of getting all the undercoat out as well. I had Samoyed dogs at the time and after a blow dry session they absolutely did not shed for weeks. Of course, it always looked like it had snowed in the back yard after a blow-dry session. The birds and little animals loved it though, all the bird nests in the neighborhood were lined with lovely soft white downy Sammy hair.

Justin's picture

I use this high tech thing

Submitted by Justin on Tue, 2008/03/04 - 9:21am.

I use this high tech thing called a towel to dry my dogs. No way in hell would I let my dogs sit in a box full of hot air to dry off.

bizgrrl's picture

Until any sort of law is

Submitted by bizgrrl on Tue, 2008/03/04 - 8:08am.

Until any sort of law is enacted (if it happens), I recommend all pet owners should discuss with their groomer what methods, drugs, tools they use. Because our dog is getting old and sickly, I have chosen to use the groomer at our vet. This does not mean I don't ask the questions, it just means I feel a little better if something goes wrong.

Over a year ago new groomer opened in our area. He was highly trained and knew Schnauzers very well. I dropped by to speak with him and tried to explain how our pup might need special attention due to a back problem. He was very short with me and said he treats all dogs the same. Needless to say, I did not leave my pupster with him. Maybe he was good and maybe he treated all dogs with special care. He closed up his shop within a year of opening.

I always drop by groomers to see their facilities and speak with the groomer before I decide to leave the pupster with them. One shop was too busy to speak with me, one shop rarely answered their phone, one shop was very dirty. Amazingly enough, I ended up at PetSmart grooming before changing to the groomer at my vet. I was very please with PetSmart and they have an express grooming so you don't have to leave them for hours. My vet's groomer has luckily turned out to be very good as well.

DnB's picture

I agree they should be

Submitted by DnB on Tue, 2008/03/04 - 1:30pm.

I agree they should be banned. I can't imagine letting someone put my dog in a box with hot air blowing all around. That could easily blind the dog and totally mess up the lungs, as well as kill them, as we have seen.

We also use the high tech towel.

Anonymous's picture

Being a dog groomer myself I

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 2008/03/06 - 7:43pm.

Being a dog groomer myself I do use cage dryers, but not the ones with a heating element. I mostly force dry them them put them in a open kennel with a cage dryer that only blows the air in at room temp. I do not think it would be fair to ban all cage dryers, but I def. agree the ones that heat up, or the enclosed cage dryers should be banned.

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