West Nipissing’s ‘Furrari’ zooms to the groom

Lisa Filiatrault has been grooming pets for 13 years and has operated Pawfect Pet Grooming in Sturgeon Falls for six years, and now she’s taking the show on the road in a mobile pet grooming unit she has christened the Furrari.

And much like the offerings of the Italian car maker which inspired the name, the mobile unit is turning some heads about town. Filiatrault described her new wheels as “a modern, mobile grooming trailer” that is “totally self-contained with all the same equipment as a professional traditional grooming salon.”

Except this one is on wheels, enclosed within a large trailer, and pulled behind Filiatrault’s truck. If you’ve got a skittish pooch, or your cat turns your arms to ribbons when your try to get her in a car, this mobile service might cure what ails you. It costs more than bringing your pet into her salon, but that extra cash represents personalized, one-on-one service provided right at your door.

She is keeping her shop open at 56 John Street in Sturgeon Falls, but the Furrari is an extra service Filiatrault began providing earlier this summer. The idea stemmed in part from the Covid lockdowns, when rents were due, and income was low. A trailer would allow her to continue her business in the case of any future lockdowns.

Putting everything together took about a year of planning, as it’s not an easy project to design and produce such a trailer. The Furrari took a lot of thought, she explained, but the results were worth the time.

Filiatrault is proud of “how self-sufficient the trailer is.” She can park at someone’s house and everything she needs to wash and groom is contained within the Furrari. There’s a 7000-inverter generator on board for power, which can run the vacuum, air conditioning, heat, and of course, the power dryer used to top off Mittens’ new ‘do. “I’m fully self-sufficient” in the mobile, she emphasized, complete with a water tank that holds 35 gallons.

She knows that some pets don’t like leaving the house, “they just do better at home, and I want to be able to provide that service to those people.” So now she can visit them and bring the grooming services along with her. “All I need is a pet to love and place to park,” she said, and she’s ready to go.

David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.