Arizona Spa ordered to stop Dr Fish Pedicure

Garra rufa and chin chin fish nibble at the skin on the foot of Mai Garcia, of Gilbert, during a spa fish treatment at LaVie Nails & Spa in Gilbert. Feb. 3, 2009.

Thousands of jobs in Gilbert hinge on the outcome of a dispute between the Arizona State Board of Cosmetology and a Gilbert salon.

The workers are one-inch long garra rufa and chin chin fish employed at Cindy Vong’s LaVie Nails & Spa in Gilbert. While no human would likely ever want to perform their jobs, the fish seem to relish their work sucking the dead skin from people’s feet.

At issue is whether the fish, also known as doctor fish, reddish log sucker and nibble fish among other names, present a health hazard to customers at Vong’s salon and whether the board will be able to stop the practice.

Officials instructed Vong in January to stop the fish pedicures, saying they violate the board’s statutes and rules and may constitute a class one misdemeanor.

Sue Sansom, a board spokeswoman, said the law requires grooming items used on salon clients to be disinfected, and there’s no way to disinfect a fish.

“It is our responsibility to insure that clients have a very safe environment and infection control is in place,” she said.

Officials will meet with Vong on March 20 to determine what, if any, actions against Vong are necessary. An action by the board can range from dismissal to revocation of license and fines up to $2,000.

Tim Keller, executive director for the Institute for Justice’s Arizona Chapter, a libertarian law firm, said his organization is assisting Vong, but hasn’t filed a lawsuit over the matter.

“We’re waiting to see what the board does with this,” he said.

He said the board is overreaching in its authority and application of the law.

“She was having some really great success,” he said. “One day somebody from the cosmetology board swung by and noticed this new entrepreneurial endeavor and decided that they didn’t know what it was and that they didn’t understand it, (and) they decided to shut it down.”

Keller said his group reviewed the regulations that the board says Vong is violating, and that they don’t apply to fish treatments.

Keller added that the fish aren’t giving pedicures and are more meant for entertainment value.

The purpose of the fish treatment, which some describe as feeling like a mild electrical current on the skin, is to smooth the feet and relax the customer.

“It’s really ticklish,” said Vong, who purchased the fish from China in October.

The practice, popular in numerous countries around the world, has caught on in the United States.

Despite its popularity, more states – most recently Maryland and Florida – are reportedly banning the practice over similar health concerns.

“I don’t think it’s fair,” Vong said.

The fish pedicures have boosted business at LaVie Nails & Spa by 50 percent, Vong said.

“I have customers coming from all over town,” she said.

Sansom said other groups have concerns over the way the fish are treated and whether they represent a threat as an invasive species.

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Note Last Year:  Spavelous Reported that this Dr Fish was banned in Arizona and warned spa owners to not purchase the expensive equipment until they had a ruling from their local Board of Cosmetology.

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Florida stops fish pedicures

SARASOTA COUNTY, FL – A popular way to get a pedicure is now banned in the state of Florida. Ladies have been lining up for fish pedicures, but now the Board of Cosmetology has put a stop to it.

It’s Gina Dello’s day off, and there is only one reason she came to AJ’s Salon and Spa – to get a fish pedicure. “It just sounded like something unusual and weird, and it’s my day off, and I thought I would try it…but no more.”

The tanks at the spa used to be full of fish. Customers would put their feet in the water, and tiny carp would eat away the dead skin on their feet. Customers say their feet were very smooth afterward.

But last month, the Florida Board of Cosmetology banned the pedicures. “The main issue is the requirement to clean the utensils between customers, and that’s not something they felt could be done when using a live animal.” Plus there’s a state rule that prohibits animals or pets in cosmetology salons.

At AJ’s, the owner said he did 200 fish pedicures a week. People paid $35 to have fish eat off their feet. “It helped my business, especially in recession time, it really helped. But law is law. We cannot break law, so we shut it down,” says Johnny Tran of AJ’s Salon and Spa.

Tran’s Sarasota County salon was actually the first in the state to offer the fish pedicures, but the owner says these tiny carp have been around for centuries. They were used in ancient Asia to help cure Psoriasis.

Now the fish will be sent back to the supplier, and the custom-made tanks are empty. And the owner of AJ’s says he’ll just have to look for another way to catch the attention of customers.

State regulators say salons have to stop doing the pedicures immediately. Inspectors will be looking for violators. They say they don’t think there were health risks with the fish pedicures, but banned them just to be safe.

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Note:  Last year Spavelous warned spa owners not to invest in expensive equipment prior to checking with the state on their regulations.  Read Garra Ruffa Article

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