Country Animal Hospital (CAH) opened its doors in January, 1990, in a modest converted house down the street from our current location. It was founded by Dr. Laurie Barcelow soon after she graduated from vet school, and she was a solo practitioner until 1994 when Dr Lynne Martin joined the staff. After a while it became apparent that the clinic needed more space, and the Barcelows decided to build our current beautiful facility. They took a leap of faith and in 2005 created our 5,600 square foot animal hospital with 720 square feet of boarding kennel. Built as a veterinary clinic from the ground up, our modern facility is optimized to provide the best experience for the client and enable our staff to provide the best possible care. Light is very important for a feeling of health and well being, so almost every room in the clinic (except the bathroom and ultrasound room!) has large windows that let in as much daylight as possible.
In 2006 Dr Jessica Jones answered an advertisement in the national veterinary journal stating that there was a veterinary associate position available with ownership potential in a small animal clinic in the gorgeous area of South Royalton and Bethel, Vermont. Dr Jones joined the staff and immediately felt at home among the dedicated, compassionate and energetic crew of CAH. In November 2012 she purchased CAH from the Barcelows and has since added a few new pieces to the puzzle. In October 2014 we celebrated the grand opening of the Country Canine Club in the basement of the clinic, allowing us to hold doggy daycare during the day, and training classes during nights and weekends. Then in July 2015 we fenced in a large grassy area behind the clinic for outdoor doggy daycare during the warmer months.
As Dr Barcelow was phasing out of the practice in 2012, Country Animal Hospital was blessed to have Dr Erika Keady apply for the new associate veterinarian position. She fit into our family at CAH almost seamlessly, adding her warmth, compassion, and intellect to our practice. As our clientele continued to grow and honor us with their loyalty, we realized that we needed to add another veterinarian to continue offering our medicine in a timely manner. In the fall of 2018 we were very excited to welcome Dr Laurie Livingston to our clinic, and it was almost as if she had always been with us. Her style of medicine meshed with ours, and she added her over 30 years of clinical savvy mixed with heartfelt dedication to our clients and their four legged companions. And now these four doctors — Jones, Martin, Keady, and Livingston — head up the team of many talented and kind-hearted animal enthusiasts at our clinic. From veterinarians to technicians to receptionists to groomers to trainers to doggy daycare providers to kennel staff, we are all waiting to meet you and your four-legged family members to see how we can help you have the most rewarding and long loving human-animal relationship possible.
