17/04/2020
🌟🌟🌟customers please read 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
There is ALOT of information going about whether we can groom or not...another groomer broke it down and allowed us to use her words....
This is Doggie Business position and will remain so until the government allows non essential businesses to open
The criteria we would have to meet are as follows:
- we pick up and drop off your dog following social distancing measures. You are not allowed to travel to us
- we fully disinfect our vehicle between dogs and can only take one dog at a time
- we fully disinfect our salon and equipment between dogs
- payment is made by bank transfer or by card only
-we would need at least 3 sets of PPE per dog, which rightly belongs with front line workers
-we would have to fully shower between dogs.
All of the above is all very well but it would mean that one groom of a Small dog would entail a total of approximately 6 hours.
If anybody is happy to pay £175 for the 6 hours work that the groom would take, and wear a hazmat suit for the handover then that’s great, otherwise it’s just not possible.
The advice has differed hugely between organisations from the start with the British Dog Groomers Association, British Veterinary Association, Pet Industry Federation, Department for Environment, Food and Affairs, The Kennel Club and the Animal and Plant Health Agency all having their own interpretation of the rules and giving different advice as to what we can and cannot do.
There are so many questions and posts every day on all grooming pages about if we should be open or not. I think anyone who doesn't care about the morality of the situation can definitely find loopholes and still work.
But realistically, I could have the virus and be asymptomatic. Even though I have washed and dried those dogs im the last to handle them before the owner takes them, they're not going to wash them again, and we all know now it can live on hair. We are dog groomers, we are not properly trained in infection control to the extent its needed in this situation. Doctors and nurses are and they still aren't getting it right 100% of the time. If I was to groom 6 dogs per day I could potentially infect 6 households a day. Averaging out at about 18 people a day, 106 people a week if there are 3 people per household. And thats not counting who they will potentially then go on to infect if they go out.
Skip to a week later, I get a phone call from one of our clients from the start of the week to say they are showing symptoms or have been tested positive, then another phone call from another client, and another... and I am the only common denominator in this whole situation. I have to contact all the clients and tell them. Even at a 2% death rate that means from that week at work two of our clients or their family members could die. Its like walking down a street blindfolded with a gun, shooting aimlessly but hoping not to kill anyone.
The one piece of advice that remains unchanged and has done throughout is...
Stay at home 💙 Protect the NHS 💙 Save lives
And so that is exactly what I will continue to do.
I hope that helps to explain our position 🐶🐶
