5.5. SR 11-17-2008 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

communities do not. AEWC expects that the numbers of animals needing veterinary care will increase along with the growth in population. AEWC will be competing with a few other hospitals in the area for dog and cat business. These hospitals are Barrington Oaks Veterinary clinic in Elk River, Amvet in Otsego, Big Lake Area Veterinary Clinic in Big Lake, and Zimmerman Veterinary Hospital in Zimmerman.. Only one of these offer limited bird services and none offer reptile services. Most will treat minor conditions of pocket pets, but are not prepared to perform diagnostics or surgery on these animals. None of these hospitals offer holistic or any alternative therapies. The proposed location for AEWC is located on a 4-lane north-south highway off a large intersection. Traffic counts for this location exceed 50,000 cars daily. High visible exposure, over 1000 existing bird, exotic and acupuncture clients, and a percentage of my previous client base of 3000, will provide a steady and reliable source of income. Elk River has a single, high priced hospital to serve a large and expanding population. Animal & Exotic Wellness Center will provide full service, high quality veterinary medicine to a growing community in need of reasonably priced veterinary care. In addition, AEWC will offer unique services in an area lacking venues which provide exotic animal (birds & reptiles) and alternative veterinary medicine. The closest hospital, Barrington Oaks Veterinary Clinic, is a high priced practice for this community. In order for a practice to be self-supporting, prices need to be reasonably consistent with what people can afford. General lack of pet health insurance means that people pay out of pocket for their pets' health expenses. This fact can put pets in the category of luxury items. I believe that veterinarians should promote pet ownership, and to accomplish that we need to make their health care affordable. It is estimated that dogs average 2.6 veterinary visits per year, cats average 1.7 visits, and birds average 2 visits per year (American Veterinary Medical Association, 2007 U.S. pet ownership statistics; numbers of veterinary visits for small mammal and reptiles were not reported). The American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association estimated that 33% of pet owners seek alternative therapies for their animals. In 2007 there was $2,146,125.00 spent on pet related service and merchandise within a 5 mile radius of the proposed location (MapInfo Demographics). From these numbers, and the expected growth of Elk River (one of the fastest growing communities in Minnesota, information provided by the city of Elk River), there is enough business available to sustain the existing practice and to support a new hospital in the area, especially a hospital with the planned specialties. There are 2 pet stores located in Elk River. Both are with in 3 miles of the proposed location. Chuck and Don's is directly across the street from the hospital location and sells a wide variety of quality pet foods and supplements. Atlas is located on a major highway just south of the hospital and sells a wide variety of pet foods and merchandise as well as -2-