Groomers attend pet CPR training as city’s proposed pet grooming ordinance looms

El Paso city council is considering implementing more regulations on the pet grooming industry.

This comes after a local groomer was charged with animal cruelty when surveillance cameras caught her slapping a dog.

But some groomers are being proactive.

“It’s for the safety of the animal especially since we board them overnight or during the weekends when vets are not available,” owner of EPK9 groomers Antolin Arguelles said.

City council has held meetings to get public input before voting on a pet grooming ordinance.

One of the items that could be included in that ordinance is making sure all groomers are pet CPR certified.

“We’re being proactive. We’re not waiting for the city to tell us what to do, we’re just trying to lead by example,” Arguelles said.

Pet CPR is similar to CPR being administered on humans, but there are differences.

“It’s just the anatomy is a little bit different. So the compressions, the breaths and the positioning is a little bit different,” said David Martinez, pet CPR instructor at Allied Health Center.

The classes are $35 per person.

City representative Claudia Ordaz Perez, who brought up this issue in the first place, plans on bringing the ordinance to council for a vote sometime in August.