Dog groomers may one day need mandatory certification to operate in Canberra, in a move welcomed by animal welfare groups and groomers.
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In its draft animal welfare management strategy, the ACT government resolved to investigate whether or not to introduce minimum qualification requirements for pet services, including groomers.
RSPCA ACT chief executive Tammy Ven Dange said they had lobbied for the changes after the organisation had difficulty dealing with the owner of two salons where eight dogs were severely burned in 2013.
Groomer Lance Baker eventually pleaded guilty to two charges of animal neglect but Ms Ven Dange said they were unable to stop him from operating because of the legislative framework at the time.
"What we're finding is a lot of businesses out there that work with animals, there's no codes of practices or anything, there's no licensing requirement," Ms Ven Dange said.
"If you go and get your hair done, the person doing it has to have so much time and experience and education before they're allowed to touch you.
"The same damage that can be done to a human can be done to an animal and yet there's no licensing or any kind of provision that requires them to be certified."
Ms Ven Dange said having a licence to lose would make animal service providers more accountable.
"Groomers have the same responsibility to animals as hairdressers have to humans yet there's no requirement for them to have a certificate that says they know what they're doing, for them to be licensed, to make sure that if they're not doing the right thing they can lose their licence," Ms Ven Dange said.
"You can basically open a groomers and all of a sudden you have a business and it just seems like there's too much risk in that as proven by the number of dogs that were burnt in this grooming case."
Tania Piddington, who owns mobile grooming salon House of Dog, said having mandatory minimum qualifications would improve the industry.
"As it stands any old person can set up a grooming business. I have qualifications myself and it's a really good baseline for anyone looking to go into business," she said.
Her courses taught her not only grooming techniques, but ways of recognising and managing stressed or anxious animals.
"There are some groomers who have just picked up their grooming tools and called themselves a groomer and that's where things go wrong," Ms Piddington said.
"You need to have that understanding of animal behaviour to monitor for signs of stress."
Geraldine Wickham of Paws2Play dog day care and training said she was in favour of certification provided it was from a reputable source.
"The government has been really relaxed at policing training delivery in the past few years," Ms Wickham said.
"There's no point in a piece of paper that you have to sit online for three hours without seeing a human to get."
Isabel Haines of Isabel's Dog Grooming said mandatory minimum qualifications should have been installed years ago.
"Quite a lot of people just start up a dog grooming business in the backyard and don't believe they need a qualification," Ms Haines said.
Public consultation on the government's draft animal welfare management strategy will close on May 10.