Inside the Fifth Avenue Veterinary Clinic earth-tones create a homey atmosphere, warm cream walls and a hardwood floor across which the resident cat, a blur of fur, plays fetch. The clinic, which opened this past May, was designed to help animals feel at home and keep them at ease. And it’s this peace that has made loyal clients out of visitors already.
The clinic, designed with a modern veterinary workflow in mind, houses state-of-the-art equipment – though “the technology is unobtrusive,” says McClinchey. And the reaction has been positive; “Everybody feels relaxed,” she says. “We’re very grateful for the positive word-of-mouth advertising we’ve been getting.”“We just have a nice, calm, relaxed background here,” says Dr. Heather McClinchey, who was a partner with the Dufferin Veterinary Hospital before finding and taking the opportunity to offer Dufferin County a more enhanced level of service. “We find that on our end the pets require less restraint and lower anesthetic because they’re calm and happy.”
McClinchey says the clinic is very team-oriented – “we all contribute equally to the care” – and this cooperative mindset extends to the community at large. McClinchey turned to local businesses throughout the startup of her own, from local contractors to suppliers and artists – over 100 businesses in total. “We’ve been deliberate throughout the building process to be using local services,” she says. “It’s very important to support local business, and that’s been a mandate from the beginning.”
If things keep going as they have been, then the Fifth Avenue Veterinary Clinic has a bright future ahead of it. “I hope that this business and clinic can continue to be an integral part of the vet service care in the community,” says McClinchey.
Veterinarians are a part a professional services sector in Dufferin County that ranks among the region’s largest industries, with nearly 11% of all businesses falling into that class. And the expected 29% growth in Dufferin’s population to 80,000 people by 2031 should be beneficial to local service professionals such as Fifth Avenue Veterinary Clinic.
Update: Fifth Avenue Veterinary Clinic has just become Dufferin’s first and only veterinary practice to have been accredited by the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA). Click here to read more.