I’m amused at a report of a pet ‘laundromat’ in Europe.
An entrepreneur has come up with the Dog-O-Matic, a mini-car wash which transforms pets from filthy to fluffy in half an hour.
Frenchman Romain Jarry, 31, who insists the device is not cruel, hopes to introduce it to Britain next year after it proved a huge success in his home town of St Max, near Nancy.
It costs the equivalent of £13 [US $20] to wash a small dog, £22 [US $33] for medium size, rising to £31 [US $47] for the largest customers.
Cats can also be catered for, at the small-dog price.
Mr Jarry said: ‘It doesn’t take long to wash the dog – usually a few minutes. The longest part is the drying. The dogs don’t seem to get bored. They just sit there and they come out clean.
‘We are really hoping it will take off and that other places will start buying in the machines.’
There’s more at the link.
Sorry, but I think this is cruel. A pet may not like a regular wash (although my Labrador used to thoroughly enjoy everything except the soap), but to stick it in a strange, noisy machine that it can’t understand is a bit too much like cruelty to my mind.
(Of course, some dogs might take revenge. If my friend Holly ever tries to bathe her 100-pound dog Tip in such a machine, I’d bet on the machine coming off second-best!)
As for bathing cats . . .
Peter
My favorite pet washing idea, I guess I stand with the dogs on this one:
How To Wash A Cat
1. Thoroughly clean the toilet.
2. Add the required amount of shampoo to the toilet water, and have both lids lifted.
3. Obtain the cat and soothe him while you carry him towards the bathroom.
4. In one smooth movement, put the cat in the toilet and close both lids (you may need to stand on the lid so that he cannot escape). CAUTION: Do not get any part of your body too close to the edge, as his paws will be reaching out for any purchase they can find.
5. Flush the toilet three or four times. This provides a “power wash and rinse” which I have found to be quite effective.
6. Have someone open the door to the outside and ensure that there are no people between the toilet and the outside door.
7. Stand behind the toilet as far as you can, and quickly lift both lids.
8. The now-clean cat will rocket out of the toilet, and run outside where he will dry himself.
Sincerely,
The DOG
Hi to all, I just would like to clear some points. The girl on the picture is the owner of the dog. I didn’t create that cabin (spanish company) but the concept which is a dog washing place where pet’s owner can wash them easily without dirtying their bathroom. The automatic cabin takes the concept of a water jets shower obviously softer than for humans (nothing is turning inside the washing space for people which were thinking this). Shampoo is similar of a shampoo for baby adapted to dogs and cats (doesn’t hurt eyes and hears). In case of dog’s panic, owners can push the stop button or open the door. Like that cycle is stopping and restart when you close the door or release stop button. After washing something like 50 dogs in 7 opening weeks, I’ve never see problems with dogs. Even if I get the case, owners can finish to wash or dry their pet themselves with the manual washing cabin. Have you ever wash a dog which doesn’t want to be wash…it’s almost impossible. The advantage of this kind of cabin comparing the manual one is because you don’t have human intervention, the dog quiet by himself. I saw a lot of dogs very cool inside the cabin and that was surprising the owner because they said to me that it was a pain to wash them by hand.
Please have a look of the video of my site: http://www.dogomatic.fr/video.htm
I hope my English is understandable and I thank you for my right of reply