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The Great Cage Drying Debate

If you need an ice breaker at a chilly party of pet groomers, ask for their opinions about "cage drying." That'll do it. It may even turn into a really heated debate!

Cage drying deaths happen in small and large grooming departments and salons. Every year a surprising number of pets do die in cage dryers. Recently, there were articles about such a death in Orange County, California. The owner said the groomer, "fried my dog." In 1998 the National Enquirer carried a very poorly written article about a cage drying incident on its front cover, and that was seen by tens of millions of pet owners.

At first, everyone wants to quickly focus on who is to blame. The groomer? The cage dryer manufacturer? I've even seen a veterinarian blamed because he didn't inform the pet owner adequately that a pet should not be cage dried. Attorneys are quickly involved and everyone is on the defensive. It's emotional for the pet groomer who certainly didn't intend for the pet to die, and of course it's devastating for the pet owner.

Generally, we have NEVER used cage drying and without making a political issue of it. We take an approach like NASA towards its astronauts, we adopt a zero tolerance for unnecessary risk. There is nothing more riskier in pet than leaving a pet unattended with a grooming loop (noose...what a horrible word...better "grooming loop") around its neck, or a pet alone in cage dryer without constant supervision. Both of these conditions lead to almost all accidental pet deaths in a pet grooming business.

Rather than tell you never cage dry, it's far more meaningful to say, never leave a pet unattended when it is not secure in its lodging space (cage...ouch... what a poor image that word creates too). Perhaps the most meaningful basis of defining humane pet care then is the "attendance factor." In providing truly humane pet care, the pet would never be left unattended during any grooming procedure at any time. Period.

For some reason, pets are often left unattended for a moment or two, here and there when being cage dried. It's a bad habit and a dangerous procedure, but it is a matter of legal record in most cage drying deaths where there is litigation.

Now, let's put aside the reactive side of this heavily debated issue for another consideration. One of the ways we prefer to define "humane pet care" is to ask ourselves, "How would you feel if you were the pet undergoing the grooming procedure you are performing?" Our consensus is that even in the prime of health we would NEVER feel comforted and accommodated when placed into a caged environment with warm or hot air blow on us. It's worse in cage dryers with closed walls and doors on all sides with limited air ventilation slots. Indeed, we feel uncomfortable in a hot room of our home. If you imagine that room being shrunk around you, and circulating with warm or hot air, how would you feel? Isn't is stressful? Of course it is. It is certainly more stressful when you compare cage drying procedures to being constantly attended to by a pet groomer on a more spacious drying counter. Why not provide that type of drying instead of cage drying? What is the advantage of cage drying then? More production in business where there is only a pet groomer working alone? Risk factor aside, it seems far more humane to forgo cage drying and to comfort and accommodate the needs of pet during drying procedures in an open environment.

We do not admonish pet groomers that use cage drying. We are NOT saying that cage drying is INHUMANE. Cage drying can be done safely when all necessary safety requirements are adequately considered and followed through. We do feel the stress of the pet though, and we know pet groomers that admit they too are a bit stressed by using cage dryers. In the back of their mind they are always concerned about pets being cage dried, and they know it is easy to overlook providing constant supervision to cage dried pets. We enjoy knowing that since we do not use cage drying, we are free of at least one stress factor, and that perhaps we are living up to a higher level of humane pet care by never providing any type of pet care where a pet is left unattended for even a minute, indeed even a second. We know the pets we serve are getting the best attention possible at all times in a comfortable environment, including heavy-duty air conditioning in the bathing department to regulate it from getting overly hot like a cage dryer. We think it to be our expression of clearly humane pet care.

Pet Endurance for De-Matting

Every day pet groomers must make a decision as to whether require the very badly matted pet undergo a de-matting process, or to require the pet owner to authorize coat removal. In terms of humane pet care, we suggest as a general standard that if a pet must endure de-matting for more than 30 minutes, coat removal should be required. Some pet groomers may consider up to 60 minutes as their limit.

Our look at humane pet care continues on the next page.