DOG groomers, who have seen their earnings devastated due to lockdown restrictions, are calling on the government to do more to help them.

Businesses like Accrington’s Paw Spa say they are on the brink of financial ruin due to a clause in funding rules that says they can open for ‘welfare cases’, leaving them struggling with over a 95 per cent reduction in trade and unable to access support.

Welfare cases are where a dog urgently needs to be clipped for the good of its health, such as in the event of a skin condition on matting.

Paw Spa owner and Groomers Kennel Union representative Dawn Wakeley said: “We just want to be treated fairly like other small local businesses.

“Of course as dog lovers we would never turn welfare cases away, but this ill-thought out rule has left us without as much support as other industries.

“Many grooming businesses will not survive if help is not made available, and this will cause a widespread animal welfare problem.

“Coming at a time when so many have bought new puppies of breed types such as the labradoodle, which need regular grooming, this is a catastrophe waiting to happen.”

The Groomers Kennel Union, which represents over 1,000 businesses, also says that the advice has been confusing, with the Department for Energy, Food and Rural Affairs initially taking responsibility and saying groomers can only open for welfare cases which only account for around 5 per cent of their business.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) then assumed control saying the industry was technically open because of the ‘welfare cases’ and as such didn’t qualify for support.

In response the union wrote to the BEIS stressing the need for a change in the rules, however they say that the department has not acknowledged their concerns.

Ms Wakeley said: “This whole situation has been a complete shambles and only added to the extreme stress that the pandemic has placed us under.

“We had one government department effectively closing us down and another saying carry on but with a tiny fraction of the client base, and no financial support!

“Groomers are collectively falling between the gaps.

“Restaurants or shops that do deliveries or click and collect get support yet by trying to care for the nation’s dogs we are being ignored.

“This response only confounds the problem, and we beg the government to listen to what we are saying, and change their rules.”