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gingerbee

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 22, 2009
Messages
10,425
Location
Orillia, Ontario
Ya, it's happened all across Canada, VCA and Vet Strategy have purchased a lot of independent places over the last few years when my wife started her career she was at one of two emergency hospitals in Barrier and her first summer there 49% of the hospital was sold to VCA, she left working there 3-4 years ago cause the owner was running it into the ground and VCA seemed happy to let her long story short just 3 months ago the emergence hospital ( the only one in barrier now, the VCA hospital lost its emergence certification ) she works at got bought out by Vet Strategy but lucky for clients prices stayed the same since there is a premium anyways as they are an emergence hospital
 

draemn

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 10, 2010
Messages
1,677
Location
Fort St. John, BC
It's interesting how much variety there is across clinics owned in the same town by the same corporation. Just because they are owned by one of these for profit consolidators, doesn't automatically gurantee they are a worse deal than going to a non-corporate vet. One of the cheapest vets I went to with my last dog turned out be owned by one of these corporations. The one thing I noticed and didn't like about that vet was how rushed they often made vet appointments feel and how much they tried to suggest a lot of treatment without any explanation.

But, they were always respectful of me saying no to something and if I asked the Vet questions, he would answer. Obviously CBC is going to put a spin on it to get clicks, so take it with a little bit of skepticism. I still agree it is a concerning trend/problem overall, but doesn't mean that clinic is worse than others in town just because they're owned by a corporation. There are some real challenges in general with trying to find a vet that (a) doesn't try to get you to spend more money that is necessary, (b) has fair rates considering the options you have within a reasonable distance, and (c) is accepting new patients.

I think the proliferation of pet insurance is also bad for what consumers pay at the vet and is part of the rise in costs as well. So many factors and as much as I'd rather have my vet clinic be locally owned, I get it that a lot of people don't want to be a business owner and take on all that extra responsibility/stress.
 

Marzipan

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 21, 2007
Messages
14,236
Location
Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canuckistan

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