CAV update
The future of pet groomers in New Zealand The CAV committee and the NZVA veterinary team have recently been involved in several discussions about the future of the New Zealand pet grooming industry. We thought it would be useful for members to know about these discussions and what our advice has been to date. As mentioned in the CAV committee highlights in June, discussions were recently had with a representative of the National Dog Groomers Association of New Zealand (NDGA) about the role of groomers as part of an animal’s ongoing care. The NDGA is very keen to work alongside the NZVA in educating the public about responsible pet guardianship, and to ensure high standards of care are provided by their member groomers to animals under their care. Following this meeting, a summary document was provided to the NDGA by the committee that detailed advice about specific procedures groomers might undertake on animals. Subsequent to this conversation, the NZVA veterinary team was contacted by other veterinary colleagues who have been involved in discussions with Primary ITO about developing an NZQA-recognised qualification for pet groomers in NZ. Soon after this, Primary ITO opened the consultation process on the proposed qualification, to which the CAV committee/NZVA made a combined submission. The same advice given to the NDGA about specific procedures was provided as part of this submission. The following is the advice developed by the CAV committee:
Dental hygiene
Based on the criteria laid out in Section 16 of the Animal Welfare Act 1999, both sub-gingival scaling and extraction of teeth are veterinary-only procedures. There is no regulation in place to allow for non-veterinarians to undertake these procedures, therefore any groomer performing these procedures would be in breach of the Animal Welfare Act and liable for prosecution. We are aware that many groomers offer non-anaesthesia dentals (NAD) as part of their services. For clarity, we consider NAD to be the removal of tartar/calculus from the tooth crown of a conscious animal. The World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) has stated non-anaesthesia dentistry represent a major animal welfare concern for the following reasons:
Ramiro Pianarosa for Unsplash
l
A comprehensive evaluation of dental pathology or meaningful subgingival treatment is not possible without proper anaesthesia. l The procedure is a cosmetic one only. The level of dental calculus is not an accurate indicator of dental disease – clients may therefore delay seeking appropriate treatment based on the animal having clean crowns. This may result in the animal being left with persistent infection, inflammation and pain. l The stress or discomfort incurred during non-anaesthetic dental procedures cannot be justified from either a medical or ethical standpoint.
Contact: cav@vets.org.nz
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Companion Quarterly: Official Newsletter of the Companion Animal Veterinarians Branch of the NZVA | Volume 32 No 3 | September 2021
