What’s going on along I-96? It’s 12,000 square feet for dogs and cats
Posted By: mlive on May 7, 2024. For more information, please click here to read the source article.
A new veterinary clinic is coming to the Greater Grand Rapids area next year to serve more pets and owners with financial barriers.
Community Spay Neuter Initiative Partnership (C-SNIP) recently announced plans to open a new 12,000-square-foot clinic at 1300 Walker Village Dr. NW. in early 2025. The new space will replace and expand the nonprofit’s smaller clinics in Grand Rapids, Kentwood and Fruitport.
Pet families in need can now look forward to a wider range of affordable veterinary services including spay and neuter, wellness exams, microchipping, vaccinations, dental cleaning, tooth extractions, mass removals, X-rays, and more.
“It will give us approximately double the amount of space we currently have in our three small clinics,” said Sharon Caldwell-Newton, CNSIP’s executive director. “So we’re looking forward to not only being able to move into the new facility but most importantly, allowing us to serve more at-risk dogs and cats that need our veterinary care.”
The new centralized clinic will include six exam rooms, expanded dog and cat kennel spaces, a surgical suite with 10 operating tables and two dental stations, a large waiting room, an outdoor dog relief area, and a training room to host education seminars for the community and staff.
With the Walker location, CSNIP can expand by 40%, allowing the nonprofit organization to reach 30,000 pets annually.
Caldwell-Newton said there’s no perfect location to serve all ten counties when serving large areas. However, the Walker clinic specifically targets the main communities using the services — Kent, Muskegon and Ottawa County.
“People travel as far away as Oceana County, Mason County to our Kentwood clinic or as far south as Van Buren,” she told MLive/The Grand Rapids Press. “The northwest sector of Kent County is geographically more central for that broader group of clients that utilize our services.”
Since 2001, CSNIP’s goal has been to offer veterinary services at a reduced cost to pet families facing financial challenges throughout the West Michigan region. Over 235,000 dogs and cats have been spayed or neutered since its inception.
In the last three years, the nonprofit has expanded to offer more daily preventative care and other surgical procedures like hernia repairs and amputations. With the new building, they can continue to spay and neuter pets but also expand treatment services, Caldwell-Newton said.
CSNIP plans to open the Walker facility by early 2025 but still needs the community to help raise another $550,000 to fund the $3.6 million renovation project. About 85% has been raised since launching the fundraiser in April after receiving funds from Kent County and PetSmart Charities.
The nonprofit organization touts that the move to Walker will have a significant impact on pet families residing around Grand Rapids and along the lakeshore.
“The ripple effect goes even beyond those immediate pet families,” Caldwell-Newton said. “The cost of veterinary care continues to rise, and there are many reasons for that but for those families unable to access or afford that veterinary care, having nonprofit veterinary clinics like CSNIP makes a huge difference. It prevents them from going into debt to care for their pet.”
« Back to Insights