Pet groomers across the country are joining pet retailers, beauticians and even alpaca farmers in donating hair, fur, fleece and feathers to mop up millions of gallons of oil in the Gulf of Mexico, following the massive oil spill that continued to plague the region at press time.

“Pet hair is an absorbent and can be used to create oil-absorbing mats,” said Heidi Ganahl, chief executive officer and founder of Camp Bow Wow (Boulder, Colo.), a pet service company that asked its more than 200 North American franchises to collect fur for the cause.

Technically, hair is adsorbent—which means oil clings to it, rather than being soaked up by it, according to hairstylist and oil spill hair mat inventor Phil McCrory on the Web site for Matter of Trust, the ecological group spearheading the hair and fur collection.

“Hair is very efficient at gathering oil, skin oils off your face, oil pollution out of the air, and water, even petroleum oil spills,” McCrory said.

The San Francisco-based nonprofit has organized volunteers to stuff donated hair into long tubes of nylon to replicate McCrory’s boon design in an attempt to separate oil from the Gulf’s waters.

The movement has united shops of all sizes, from independents like Minneapolis-based Dreadlocks for Dingoes, to regional chains like the six Kennelwood Pet Resorts (St. Louis) and Camp Bow Wow, on up to national chains like Petco (San Diego).

Animal-related organizations, including zoos and aquariums, and key federal agencies, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, were partnering in animal rescue and rehabilitation efforts for the Gulf’s wildlife.

“Accredited zoos and aquariums have a unique expertise with animals that can support the clean-up effort,” said Jim Maddy, president and chief operating officer of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (Silver Spring, Md.). “Many zoos and aquariums already have animal rescue and rehabilitation programs in place, and their trained personnel and existing infrastructure are being made available to help with the oil spill response.”

The oil spill, caused by a ruptured well, eclipsed the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster as the nation’s worst oil spill. At press time, as much as 25,000 barrels of oil a day were pouring into the Gulf of Mexico. [July 2010 PET AGE]