TOWN OF LOUISVILLE, New York (WWNY) – One thing the north country needs is more veterinarians. When fire destroyed veterinary practice outside Massena, it didn’t help things.
Veterinarian Dr. Wilfredo Perez lost his Java’s Veterinary Center on State Route 56 in the town of Louisville when fire swept through the building, killing two dogs inside. Dr. Perez says he escaped the building with several other dogs.
There aren’t many veterinarians in St. Lawrence County and Dr. Perez knows customers will have a hard time finding care.
“It’s really sad that everything happened the way it happened. Now the north country doesn’t have anywhere else to take their pets,” he said.
There actually are a few other locations around the county. One is Canton Animal Clinic. The director of medical services there, Fawn Clark, says the loss of Java’s Veterinary Center adds to the ongoing vet shortage.
“It’s extremely devastating to the community. It’s been an unfortunate impact. We, you know, both locally and nationally, are at a huge shortage and in very high demand. We are doing the very best that we can to support that,” she said.
Dr. Perez said he had no insurance on the building and now needs more than a million dollars to rebuild the facility.
Java’s website tells customers the practice is doing everything possible to get back to providing the best veterinary care for its clients.
“We will be open soon with full force and full services, with the idea to rebuild the building back in place in a couple years,” said Dr. Perez.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
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