A Canberra dog groomer says he is deeply sorry at least three dogs were burned by a dryer in his salons and has promised to repay thousands of dollars in vet fees to the owners.
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The RSPCA has also confirmed it is investigating claims of dogs being burnt at two salons in Canberra with a view to possible neglect charges being laid against the groomer.
Lance Baker, the owner of Dog World in Hume and Animal Attraction in Macquarie, said the employee who was responsible for the injuries at Dog World was no longer working for the business. He was at a loss to explain the incident at Animal Attraction.
Mr Baker has described the injuries as "a terrible accident" and that the practice which led to the burns had stopped immediately.
"It was a terrible accident and I understand I'm liable. Of course, the worst person in the business would never deliberately or maliciously hurt an animal. It's just horrendous," he said.
However, The Canberra Times has been told that three dogs were burned at either Dog World or Animal Attraction across a seven-week period earlier this year.
Banks couple Jaid and Jenny Dawson said their five-year-old spoodle Miley suffered third-degree burns at Dog World on September 7 that appeared like she had "basically been put in a fan-forced oven". Her vet bills were at $10,000.
Red Hill woman Annabel Joske said her five-year-old cavoodle Theo also suffered burns at Dog World on September 3. His vet bills totalled $3000.
And Charnwood woman Nadine Morton said her five-year-old Maltese cross Boo suffered burns at Animal Attraction on July 27, with vet fees of $1700.
The owners have sought reimbursement of the fees from the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal, saying Mr Baker had ignored all their appeals for payment.
Mr Baker said he had been advised by his solicitor not to speak to his clients because of the legal action pending and the tribunal had given him until the end of the month to respond.
All the dogs were subdued and "not right" when they were picked up from the groomer. The burns were not immediately apparent until after the dogs had been taken to a vet and shaved and blackened skin was revealed. They required surgery and for the most part had to recover with painful, open wounds.
Mr Baker said the dogs were put in "drying cages" and an electrical blower blew hot air on to the dog.
"Now, what happened is we had a new person and they shoved the driers right up against the cage," he said.
He denied the dogs were in pain.
"I asked the girl that and she said 'No'," he said. "We'd used the cage dryers for just a few weeks and they'd never been an issue."
Mr Dawson, whose dog Miley has endured two operations and a plasma transfusion, said if the salons were already aware other dogs were injured, his dog should not have been subjected to the same treatment.
"We are mortified," Mr Dawson said.
Dr John Genvey, who helped to treat Miley at All Creatures Veterinary Centre in Calwell, said she suffered third-degree burns to 20 per cent of her body. The burnt skin was removed and she had to recover with an open wound as there was not enough skin to stitch together. He said the dog suffered terribly.
"I can honestly say we had her on some pretty big doses of opiate-related pain relievers and she was still in pain. In spite of giving her drugs that should take away most her ailment, it was not enough. She was in agony. You wouldn't wish it on anyone," he said.
Dr Genvey said the only other comparison he could make was the burns suffered in the 2003 bushfires by Lucky the koala.
"The reading we did with Miley's situation, the expert advice generally is if there are third degree burns to up to 50 per cent of the body, you really should be considering euthanasia. Miley wasn't that bad and is making a recovery thankfully but it wouldn't have taken too much more for her to be up around that," he said.
Miley is now undergoing physiotherapy to stretch her skin and she may require further surgery to release tension in the scar tissue.
Mrs Morton said she had been taking her dog to Animal Attraction for five years without complaint. She had immediately alerted the RSPCA and the ACT Office of Fair Trading and was horrified to discover other dogs were injured subsequently. She also found the salon owners had shown a "complete lack of responsibility and empathy".
"No animal should go through what they went through," she said.
