Last week a call was made to 3AW from Dr Jack Zaks (Elsternwick VeterinaryClinic) who says the Stage 4 grooming ban is “a welfare issue”. He wanted toreopen Dog Groomomg in Stage 4 Restrictions. He says his vet practice has beenoverwhelmed with dogs who have sustained injuries after their owners tried togroom them at home.

“We’ve had … people … trying to groom their own dogs. What they’re doing isthey’re cutting these dogs and there are gashes of skin,” Dr Zaks told NeilMitchell.

“On Sunday, we had a dog nearly bleed to death when an artery in the cartilagein the ear opened up.

“It’s just going on and on. It’s on a daily basis.”

Dr Zaks said while grooming is a luxury for some breeds, it’s essential forothers, like poodles.

“There’s some breeds which actually have to be, especially during winter, justlike a sheep,” he said.

“If you don’t remove the matting … it will be very hard for it to move.”

Dog Grooming is a skilled job that requires skill and knowledge, without theproperly training and properly equipment grooming a pet at home can becomedangerous.
Vets also do not have the capacity or knowledge to be grooming dogs either.

Most in the industry have the ability to keep proving dog grooming in Stage 4with a contactless option. We would also be lucky enough to see fewer then 20people a day in our salon a day, who rarely cross paths with another person.Most clients would also not spend more then 2-3 minutes within our salons atdrop off generally , therefore having a contactless option would eliminatethat, meaning drop off should be very quick.

Furthermore not only is it a potential threat to animals to be closed but wecan open with minimal threat and minimal contact with others and give jobsback to people that desperately need it.

Let’s fight to reopen as our pets need to be cared for during these uncertaintimes.

To sign the petition click here

Previous NSW Kelpie-cross sets record to win national farm dog challenge

Next Cat and Dog imports to Australia – impact of COVID-19 and Christmasshutdown