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Published
Thursday, June 5, 2003
PET PROJECT
Animal Hospital in Lakeland Breaks Ground for Expansionmary.toothman@theledger.com LAKELAND Ground-breaking ceremonies aren't ordinarily out of the ordinary, but Wednesday's ceremony at the Cleveland Heights Animal Hospital was a little doggone different than most. Instead of the usual scene featuring business people in suits with shovels, there were a couple of dogs outside wearing bright yellow hard hats. Granted, they would not cooperate by keeping their paws on the shovels long enough for ideal photo opportunities. But they looked pretty cute anyway. The event marked the official kickoff of a 4,000-square-foot expansion at the animal hospital at 3710 Cleveland Heights Blvd. Dr. Tom Houghton and staff looked on with pride as employees and pets alike mugged for the cameras and ran around at the site of the expansion. The expansion on the north side of the existing site will include consultation rooms, a surgery suite and a dental facility. An intensive care unit and a community education area also are planned. Hospital Manager Michael Peeples said the expansion will be finished in four to five months. After that, remodeling will be under way for several months. The whole project should be completed in about nine months, he said, and will bring the operation's size up to 10,000 square feet. Petey, a 65-pound English bulldog owned by nurse Alicia Lee, wiggled with glee and rooted around for a snack in the newly-turned-over dirt as Houghton talked about the expansion. He has been in business since 1972 and said the industry has seen many improvements. "We've seen a lot of changes over the years," he said. "There have been a lot of improvements in the care of pets. That's one of the reasons they are living longer, because we are taking better care of pets." Things are certainly more modern these days, Houghton said. For instance, if you leave a pet in the care of the hospital's boarding facility, you can check in on Fido via the Internet at www.pethospital. com. Cameras are on and Web cameras record the dogs while they're hanging out in their rooms. On Wednesday, viewers could check out one dog as he playfully tried to tear up his blanket. The expansion will be built around the hospital's recently revamped boarding facility, which features pastel cottages for dogs and townhouses with four-poster beds for cats.
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