Recent Deaths Spur New Jersey Lawmakers To Regulate Pet Grooming Indus

Lori Ennis
by Lori Ennis
Legislators in New Jersey are seeking the passing of a bill that would require dog groomers to be licensed, after recent deaths of dogs in New Jersey pet stores.


It’s been in the news far too much lately; dog owners take their dogs to the groomer’s, assuming they will pick them up just a bit later all fluffy and fresh.


But instead, at least three pet owners in the last few months in New Jersey have lost their pets while they were being groomed, and New Jersey Senator Kip Bateman says that it’s just oo common to be reading about these deaths in the news, and things need to change.


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Senator Bateman said that it is reasonable to expect a pet will be taken care of properly while at the groomers, and that they will be clean and healthy when returned to their owners. Because of this, Bateman is introducing a bill called Bijou’s Law, which is named after a beautiful and healthy Shih Tzu named Bijou who died while being groomed at a salon in 2012.


This proposal that includes the requiring of grooming licenses for groomers was introduced initially years ago, but didn’t pass the Legislature. In light of at least three dogs who have died in the last several months while being groomed at various PetSmart stores in New Jersey, the bill was reintroduced in the State Assembly by Valerie Vainieri Huttle, and now Senator Bateman is expecting to take it all the way.


Related: Surveillance Video Vindicates Dog Groomer Falsely Accused on Facebook


Senator Bateman said that it doesn’t make sense that we’d regulate hair and nail salons for humans, but we’d not care about regulations for our furry friends. Bijou’s Law would guarantee that pet groomers throughout the state of New Jersey were licensed, and Bateman said this would only raise the standards and credibility for the dog-grooming industry as a licensed profession.


Senator Bateman said that he’d like this bill to not only pass at the New Jersey State level, but at the federal level as well and he’d support that passage.

Lori Ennis
Lori Ennis

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