Veterinary clinic expands to allow new procedures

Pet owners will have a shorter wait and access to more modern medical treatment when Juneau's new animal center opens in January.

• Photos

The Southeast Alaska Veterinary Clinic on Glacier Highway will close at the end of the year because it has outgrown its quarters over the years. A larger facility, renamed the Southeast Alaska Animal Medical Center, will open about one-quarter of a mile from the Fred Meyer store. The site will be accessed from Glacier Highway.

The current clinic is about 3,000 square feet and has had three additions since 1975.

"This building is functional, but it's really inefficient," said veterinarian Pat Taylor, who co-owns the business with vet Lisa Kramer.

It offers limited parking and only two exam rooms, forcing some animal owners to wait for service, Taylor said. The clinic serves 50 animals a day, ranging from dogs and cats to birds and otters.

The new two-story building will be 10,000 square feet. More than half will be the center, offering five exam rooms, a larger waiting area, more parking, and entrances and exits to keep animals separated. The other space will be occupied by two apartments for staff, making them available 24 hours a day for animal emergencies, Taylor said. The clinic will hire more front-end staff and veterinary assistants.

The center will offer laser surgery in the future, Taylor said. It also will perform eye and "soft tissue" surgeries, which involve muscles, tendons and organs, Taylor said. The equipment for such procedures is not available at the current site.

"It (the new center) will just make everyone's experience more pleasant, from the kennel cleaners to the clients to the veterinarians," Kramer said.

While new buildings can be atmospherically cold, Taylor plans to offer a homey environment with wood and earth tones, he said. The center will provide in-floor heating and air conditioning.

It is being built by Triplette Construction of Juneau. The architectural design is by Jensen Yorba Lott in Juneau and Architectural Werks in Seattle.

When the clinic opened in 1962, it was the only facility in Southeast and animals were shipped in from other communities, Taylor said.

At the time, former state vet Fred Honsinger and Ted Smith owned the Mendenhall Dairy, which had a milking house. Honsinger converted it into the clinic because the small animal business was growing, he said. The Gastineau Humane Society was then purposely built adjacent to the clinic, he said.

Although Honsinger formed the clinic, he was busy traveling as the state vet, he said. Cliff Lobaugh was the first vet there.

"I think it (the new center) will bring modern veterinary medicine to Juneau with first-class facilities," Honsinger said.