Hair-raisingly wild new pet grooming fashion
Pet grooming gets taken to unusual lengths in Taiwan. Last year geometric and circular cuts were all the rage. This year pet owners are upping the fashion game by shaving complex quirky designs into their beloved pet's fur that includes paw prints, lion faces (yes, on dogs!) and... of course Hello Kitty.
Lee Mei-chen trims a teddy bear design into the fur of a dog at the pet shop Igogo in Tainan, June 19, 2016.
Strange dog shaving
A dog with a lion head cut into its fur (R) is seen at a pet shop, in Tainan, June 19, 2016.
Ou Shih-jou, owner of the salon where Lee works in southern Taiwan, said the quirky pet patterns came from owners wanting something different to the normal summer shave, with designs determined by the natural assets of the pet in question.
Strange animal shaving
One eye-catching motif involves shaving a spiky spine into the back of a cat, leaving it looking like a stegosaurus.
"When a cat gets angry, the fur on its back erects, that made us come up with "stegosaurus design"," said Ou.
"It (makes the cat) look like a small dinosaur."
Strange dog shaving
A dog with a paw print design cut into its fur, June 19, 2016.
Ou opened the salon in September 2015 and has seen big interest from the public, with the pets posing for pictures on leaving the salon.
Strange dog shaving
A woman plays with a dog with a teddy bear cut into its fur, June 19, 2016.
The teddy bear design is one of the most complex in the furry repertoire of the 30-year-old Taiwanese hairdresser Lee Mei-chen, turned pet groomer.
Strange dog shaving
A dog with "Hello Kitty" cut into its fur, June 19, 2016.
"When walking outside, people think it's amazing and magical. Everyone wants to take a photograph and see what kind of styles they came up with," pet owner Kuo Yu-lan said.
Strange dog shaving
A dog with a lion head cut into its fur (L) is held while another dog gets a teddy bear shave, June 19, 2016.
Prices for the artistic trims start at 20 USD.
Strange dog shaving
A dog with a teddy bear design cut into its fur, June 19, 2016.
Strange cat shaving
The owners were happy after they came back to see it, thinking it was quite creative," said Ou of the stegosaurus look. The cat doesn't seem so sure, however, of its new look.
Strange dog shaving
A dog with a decorative pattern cut into its fur, June 19, 2016.
Strange dog shaving
An employee trims a lion head into the fur of a dog, June 19, 2016.
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