Third Time’s A Charm – We Promise!

The opening of the UCAN Spay/Neuter Clinic has been delayed again – but just by a few weeks. It’s our second delay, but all signs point to this being our final push back.  With a crew of almost 45 volunteers making significant progress painting the interior of the clinic, an open house celebration in the works and partner training sessions underway, we expect to see Dr. Dave welcoming his first spay/neuter patients by mid-April. 

What’s the hold up?

Initially, protracted lease negotiations delayed the start of construction from summer to fall last year. Then, a dose of common sense also told us that opening right before the holidays probably wasn’t the best idea we ever had! So we postponed our clinic open date from November 2006 to March 2007. Since most puppies and kittens are born in the spring and summer months, this new timing would let us hit the ground running, ensuring that we would have income along with expenses in the crucial first quarter of operations.

The time delay from March to April is the result of a domino effect of events beyond our control… Let’s start with the fact that getting our building permit took longer than expected.  This, of course, held up the construction process, and that meant we landed in the cementing phase just as the winter’s worst snowstorms made their way to the tri-state.  Sub-freezing temperatures caused huge problems, namely the fact that all cement mixers were shut down for more than a week all over town. The cement situation, in turn, held up an array of other construction elements.   

Another complication arose from hiring a vet from out of state. Dr. Dave needed to get his State of Ohio license before he could practice here. Then, we discovered that we couldn’t even apply for the clinic’s DEA license until the state veterinary license came through. Since this would have forced an unexpected delay regardless, we mention it here because it’s a lesson learned that might be beneficial to others elsewhere who may be starting on the same path as UCAN.

We are all anxious to get the clinic open.   In considering our desire to create a strong start for clinic operations, however, this second delay could be considered a good thing.  It gives us more time to get the equipment and materials into the clinic and get our team hired and trained.   

Our Board of Directors – most especially Juanita Mills, who has devoted countless hours and energy to managing the clinic construction -- is working  hard to ensure that we can begin fulfilling UCAN’s mission of “spaying pets, educating people, saving lives” starting with our new opening date of April 23, 2007!

Comments

[Natasha]

Thanks for writing this.