Are you taking your pet for grooming?
Read this first……
For the last few days, a video of a Delhi pet shop is being shared through social media where a 2 year old golden retriever named Casper was taken for bath and he came out stressed due to blow drying. The visuals clearly presented the pet in an exhausted state as he was brought out. There is no doubt that the whole incident was tragic and apparently hinted at the salon’s fault but it triggered a question. Aren’t we the owners equally responsible for such untoward incidents? Being a pet mom myself, I was upset. As soon as I expressed my point of view, as expected, multiple keyboard warriors jumped in regardless of their country of origin, a media trial began.
In between all this, the owner of the pet shop in question too shared his side of story through a video in which for obvious reasons he put all the blame on the pet owners. I tried to research about the regulations and qualifications of pet groomers in India. This is what I found out….
- Indian pet grooming industry is not very well-defined but people have money power to afford expensive pet services.
- One doesn’t require any specific qualification to become a pet groomer.
- There are very few professional trainers to train the groomers. The top Pet Grooming institutes in the world are all abroad. How many of Indians can travel abroad or afford extravagant pet grooming courses even online! There are a few pets grooming schools in India too.
Point is that after knowing the reality shouldn’t the pet owners be extra cautious while selecting a salon for their precious ones?
Are you ready for a pet?
Whichever pet you adopt please understand that your pet is your responsibility. He would need to be walked, bathed and trained well for his basic needs. Believe me it takes immense effort to train the dogs and hygiene train them. We had a dog owner tenant who had a pup, not at all toilet trained and when they were gone we had a tough time cleaning up the space. The reason given by the young girl was, “Aunty, who will take him to the open space from this sixth floor.” I had no reason to blame the pup for his bad hygiene habits.
Pet Care Service (Hostel)
If you are a working individual with a pet, you look for a Pet Day Care Service. But wait! have you checked the basic details like….
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licence
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available facilities
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hygiene and cleanliness
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play area availability
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health and hygiene conditions of other pets around
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availability of working Fire fighting equipment for emergency situations
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What about the availability of veterinary doctor in case of emergency
But you don’t have time to check all that, I understand.
Food for pets
Pets, especially dogs need to eat fresh and healthy meals. But if you feed ready to eat food available in market, you need to think twice. The truth is that these so called healthy ready to eat meals for pets. The raw material that goes into the rendering plant is mostly a mix of dead zoo animals, dead-on-arrival poultry, road kill, or euthanized dogs and cats from animal shelters. Added to those are fats, grease, and other food waste from restaurants and stores. Please don’t miss the added additives and preservatives to increase shelf life of pet food.
But you don’t have time to cook, I understand.
Pet Grooming Service
Pets sometimes get seriously injured or killed at grooming spas and salons. Some cases have been seen where pets suffer from heat exhaustion as a result of not being able to adapt to dryers. The case of Casper was related to that. The Salon owner released a video later mentioning that he informed the pet owner regarding the discomfort of the dog in question but the lady said that she cannot take a wet pet in her car. If that is the truth, then we need to reconsider our priorities.
I am nobody to comment or judge anyone but one thing is sure that this one case of Casper must shake every pet owner out of slumber. A pet is like an infant who needs to be looked after like a baby. Pet grooming centre is just like a day care for your human baby and I am sure you check hundred things before taking your kid there. Then why no one checks details of the salon before finalising?
My take on the whole incident is that as a pet owner its my responsibility to ensure well being of my pet. If my pet is not comfortable then I should not be pushing him. Please check credentials of the Vet as well as the grooming centres. Do not fall for the word of mouth because your pet is a living being and what might be right for others might not be okay for him. It is your duty to prevent accidents by taking precautions and doing research. A few steps to ensure your pets’ safety:
- Consider using home grooming service or ensure that you are present with your pet to comfort him. If any groomer refuses for that, you have right to refuse service.
- Check if the groomer is a trained individual. Although tragedy is that there is no regulations in place to certify and licence groomers.
- Request references from other clients and check reviews online.
- Ask openly if any animals have been injured or have died in the process of pet grooming.
- Most important is to enquire about the availability of veterinary doctor in case of any emergency.
- Be sure to alert the groomer of any health issues that your animal companion may have.
- If the groomers informs you about your pet’s discomfort please take them seriously.
At the end I would still suggest to learn how to groom your pet yourself. Remember regular bathing, brushing, and clipping always help to build rapport and trust with your pet. It is your pet and if something happens to it, you will be most affected one.
