Matted Coats Policy

Animal Welfare Act - To Prevent Animals Suffering

Section 9 of the Animal Welfare Act places a duty of care on people to ensure they take reasonable steps in all circumstances to meet the welfare needs of their animals to the extent required by good practice.

This includes:

need for a suitable environment
need for a suitable diet
need to be able to exhibit normal behaviour patterns
need to be housed with, or apart, from other animals
need to be protected from pain, suffering, injury and disease

Hair Of The Dog Devizes ensures your pet does not endure any pain or suffering in our care. A maximum of 15 minutes will be spent de-matting; if matts are consistently throughout the coat, the coat will be clipped off short. Your dogs coat will not be kept long if you cannot brush it in between grooms and visit the salon for professional grooming on a regular schedule. Matts are uncomfortable, and sometimes painful for your dog. This is why the coat is clipped off and started again for a healthy hair structure and no pain for your dog.

Hair of the Dog Devizes, understands and appreciates the difficulty in keeping your dog’s coat matt and knot free, particularly in dogs with fine flyaway or curly coats. It easily happens and is very difficult to groom a dog with a matted coat. Hair of the dog Devizes will always prioritise the welfare of your dog and that we will not inflict any excessive stress or discomfort to your dog whilst in our care.

Under the animal welfare act 2006, all animals are to be protected from pain, injury, suffering and disease. It is an offence to cause unnecessary suffering to an animal: – this includes prolonged ‘de-matting’ which is painful and detrimental to the welfare of the dog.

De-matting of minor matts during a groom is ONLY possible if the matting is minimal and your dog has been regularly brushed in between grooms. To minimise stress and in accordance with the Animal Welfare Act 2006 we WILL NOT spend more than 15 minutes de-matting any dog in a single session. Our policy states ‘vanity before humanity’- therefore where de-matting is NOT possible, the ONLY humane way to deal with this will be to completely ‘clip - off’ the coat. It is quicker, kinder, gentler, and least stressful to the dog. Unnecessary hours spent de-matting, puts any dog off grooming for life.!

It is important to understand that allowing a pet’s coat to get matted is not only very UNCOMFORTABLE, but DANGEROUS for your pet’s health. Matted fur pulls and binds, causing pain to your dog when they move, walk, or lay on the matts. The skin underneath the matts become raw and inflamed as matted fur does NOT allow air to circulate through the coat. Once the coat gets wet, it will not dry easily and thoroughly down to the roots, which then leads to further skin irritation or infection.

Severely matted dogs can suffer many conditions:

hot spots & sores
yeast infections & moist eczema
urine & faeces scalding
severe itching
fungal & bacterial infections
flea infestation, mites & ticks
ear infections

Excessive matting can be avoided with regular brushing with a slicker brush, a comb and attending regular grooms.

Clipping the ‘coat off’ extremely short can cause skin irritation as the blades need to run underneath the matts next to the skin to remove the coat. Consequently, this means the clipper blades can get very hot, so extra time and breaks are needed to prevent burning your dog’s skin. We cannot guarantee that a whole treatment can take place in one session, if your dog is too severely matted and is finding the procedure too stressful and uncomfortable. When ‘clipping off’ the coat, we may uncover nicks, cuts, warts, skin tags or other potential problems which have been hidden by the matted hair, that we did not know of.

Accidents such as nicking your dog’s skin, sometimes happen when clipping off a matted coat through no fault of our own. If a dog has excessively matted ears, sometimes the tips of the ears can bleed when the matting is removed. Because the matts stop the air circulation and restrict blood flow, releasing the pressure allows the blood to flow and can cause the ears to split at the tip or haematomas (blood clot) to occur. The ears may become bruised due to excessive head shaking after being de-matted. We will do everything we can to avoid this happening.

Symptoms after the removal of a matted coat can include:

irritation, redness, burns, abrasions, chafing, sores, nicks, and self-inflicted irritations / abrasions from excessive rubbing
baldness from excessive scratching / biting.
bacterial & fungal infections
clipper rash / irritation
infestation of parasites
sunburn (common in white dogs)

Hair of the Dog Devizes CANNOT be held liable for any other effects following the treatment of a matted dog or problems uncovered on a badly matted, neglected coat.

Hair of the Dog Devizes WILL NOT accept financial liability for any veterinary treatment required because of the treatment of a matted dog. In extreme cases of severe matting, or evidence of broken skin, sores, skin infections and inflammation, we have the right to refuse to groom your dog and direct you to see your vet.

Any de-matting of your dog will incur an additional charge of £20.00 to accommodate for the time spent de-matting and the wear caused to our blades and equipment.

PLEASE NOTE:

Clipping off a matted coat will completely change your dog’s appearance and could also aggravate pre-existing skin condition (usually caused by very tight matts). We will need your written permission to clip off a matted coat.

Hair of the Dog Devizes reserves the right to shave your dogs coat to remove all matting and reserves the right to refuse service to clients who refuse to sign the matted dog release owner declaration.