Pet groomers are calling on the Ontario government to allow them to keep working during the lockdown.
Grooming businesses have been forced to close under the province’s latest lockdown rules but groomers say they can work curbside and have effective COVID protocols in place like other businesses that have been allowed to stay open.
Heather Boyd, owner of Doggie Detailing in Trenton says they’ve been essentially working with curbside service since they were allowed to reopen after the first lockdown last spring and she feels they were offering a safe service.
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“Dogs aren’t something you can kind of put on the shelf and say ok, we’re just gonna put you over there and fix you up later. Their hair keeps growing, their nails keep growing, they get tangled. It’s a health issue for sure. Health and welfare.”
She says when the December lockdown order was issued, groomers thought they were going to be allowed to continue to work but then they were suddenly removed from the list of businesses that can remain open.
Audio Player“I belong to the Ontario Dog Groomers Association and they do have a lawyer that’s really trying to just basically get groomers on the list so that we can be considered an essential service. Second to that or bare minimum, would be just to allow us to operate curbside just like every other curbside business is operating in the city right now.”
Boyd says it’s not only about the now.
Every week they remain closed the backlog grows and it will be that much harder to catch up when they do open.
Her business rescheduled more than 800 appointments after being forced to close for seven weeks during the first wave of the pandemic.
Some dogs had to wait weeks or months for grooming during the province’s first lockdown (photo: submitted,Heather Boyd)
