Pet Care Needs Good Record Keeping

🐾 Why Modern Pet Care Needs Better Record Keeping

With the Pet Industry Federation (PIF) recently launching updated professional standards—especially around grooming, boarding, breeding, and retail—there’s never been a more important time for pet businesses and owners to maintain meticulous records. In June 2025, unveiled comprehensive grooming guidelines aimed at safeguarding welfare and professionalism in pet services. These new expectations underscore the vital role of accurate documentation in delivering high-quality, transparent pet care.

---

📋 What the New PIF Guidance Means

Although PIF’s latest updates are primarily focused on grooming standards, they highlight a broader trend: documentation is the foundation of professional pet care. Providers are now expected to:

1. Record each grooming session (date, type of service, products used, groomer’s name).
2. Note owner consent received for services like coat trimming, nail clipping, or specialty treatments.
3. Log any observations—a skin condition, unusual behavior, or health concerns.
4. Maintain accurate records and retain them in accordance with Data Protection Act 2018 and other appropriate legislation.

While driven by grooming, these expectations spill over to boarding, daycare, retail, and breeding—as every interaction with a pet deserves transparency and traceability.

---

🏥 Veterinary and Breeder Record keeping Standards for Pet Care

Professional guidelines offer further structure:

• The Animal Welfare Act 2006 mandates record keeping for various aspects of animal care and welfare. This includes documentation of animal care protocols, veterinary care, housing conditions, transportation, training, and inspections. Naturally this covers the whole of the pet care industry. These types of records are crucial for demonstrating compliance with the law and ensuring the well-being of animals. 
  
  
  
• Systems and Apps such as Tuft which is a Pet Grooming App highlight key tenets of pet record systems: chronological entries, legible & concise documentation, confidentiality, and clear error corrections.

---

🗃️ What Pet Care Records You Should Be Keeping

A well-rounded record system—whether paper-based or digital—should include:

Basic identity & ownership: Name, breed, age, microchip/tattoo, owner contact

Health & vaccination history: Date, type, dosage, reaction notes for vet practices and orgs that sell prescriptions

Service logs: Grooming, daycare/boarding sessions with staff names and consent.

Medical notes: Exams, medications, veterinary interactions

---

🧠 Organising Records Efficiently

Physical files—use binders with tabs by category and date. Limit access to sensitive areas, review files annually, and create duplicates for critical consent forms 

Digital systems—platforms like Tuft App for Pet Groomers or cloud tools (Google Drive, Airtable) improve accessibility, reduce lost paperwork, and allow real-time updates .

Hybrid workflows are common: paper intake forms converted into digital records, with templates and dropdown fields to enforce consistent data.

---

🎯 Benefits of Proper Record Keeping for Pet Care

• Improved pet welfare: Full history prevents missed vaccines or over-treatment.
• Professionalism & trust: Clients appreciate transparency and clear communication.
• Regulatory compliance: Avoid fines or legal risk by meeting Animal Welfare Act 2006, the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, or other local requirements.
• Operational insights: Track grooming trends, recurring health issues, or boarding patterns.
• Emergency readiness: Rapid access to records during emergencies or third-party transfers.

Humane Society International underlines the need for tracking everything: breed, microchip, medical history, behaviour, adoption outcomes, and costs because it can all come tumbling down in the blink of an eye if you don’t have a good foundation.

---

✅ Implementing Better Systems Today

Audit current record practices—what’s missing? What’s hard to find?

Standardise forms/templates—physical or digital, ensure key fields are mandatory.

Have training your team—on documentation standards: neatness, timelines, confidentiality.

Switch to digital where it adds value—tuft app, cloud backups,

Review periodically—ensure everything is neat, secure, and compliant.

Communicate to clients—highlight your record-keeping as a promise of quality care.

Outsource the services you don’t specialise in like data protection and records management.

---

Takeaway

The new PIF grooming and welfare guidelines reinforce a fundamental truth: meticulous record-keeping is the backbone of trusted, effective pet care. Whether you’re a professional groomer, breeder, boarding facility, or a diligent pet owner, investing in thorough documentation pays back in better care, legal resilience, and client satisfaction.

If you need help then you can always reach out to me for needs relating to records management or to me for part of CVG Solutions Data Protection Officer as a Service (DPOaaS).

By embedding record excellence into your processes now, you’re stepping up to the future of pet care.