On a busy, crowded street in Brooklyn, where businesses come and go and are often being converted into bars, lounges or torn down and rebuilt into pricey condominiums, a local business is staying ahead of the curve due to positive growth in this re-developing community. It is a service that the local community lacked for quite some time.
If you are native to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, you are aware that the demographics as well as the real estate, and local business scenes have changed dramatically and along with the increasing demand for housing, there also seems to be an increasing demand for pet medical services and anything pet-related.
Serving the local community of East Williamsburg, Williamsburg Animal Clinic offers medical veterinary services at a competitive and affordable price. Located on 760 Grand Street in Brooklyn, the clinic has been open since October of 2007 and the owner, Dr. Orlando R. Diaz, DVM, says that he decided to open his clinic here because noticed the need for veterinary services.
Dr. Diaz, who previously worked at Howard Beach Animal Clinic with Dr. Steven Weinstein, noted that “there weren’t a lot of Spanish speaking veterinarians in Williamsburg,” and said that the diverse and changing community “brings culture,” and was a motivation for relocating there.
Even as thousands of Spanish speaking residents have been moving out due to gentrification, the business continues to accommodate both older residents as well as newer residents and has not skipped a beat.
Williamsburg Animal Clinic has a total of five medical veterinary doctors, including Dr. Diaz, all dealing with different specialties.
The doctors treat mainly cats, dogs and some birds but Dr. Diaz says that the clinic also gets a lot of “pocket pets” which are smaller animals such as rabbits, rats, ferrets, turtles, and reptiles such as bearded dragons and much more.
The clinic offers check-ups, vaccinations, de-worming, orthopedic surgeries, digital x-rays, ultrasounds (by appointment), micro-chipping, emergency care, dental procedures and other services. They also sell veterinary diet pet food. A standard check-up is 35 to 45 dollars and is affordable, when compared to other similar businesses offering the same services.
Christina, a local Brooklyn resident, said “this place is much cheaper than other clinics and I don’t have to go as far.” She brought in her sick brown toy dog who was vomiting. She thought her dog might have worms but wasn’t sure what was wrong.
When it comes to any local competition, Dr. Diaz said that it is hard to compete because there is a lot of demand for veterinarians and their veterinary specialties. Diaz continues by saying that there is enough of a demand for everyone to thrive here. “I think the biggest challenge in the next year or two is just keeping up with the demand,” said Dr. Diaz. “How can we accommodate all the services?”
Dave Weis’ brown and white, male, Jack Russel Terrier was to undergo a dental cleaning. Weis said that his dog is an old dog and has been there twice for cleanings.
The clinic’s website includes a link to places where you can adopt pets as well as a page called “missing pets” in which online fliers can be posted for missing animals along with photos and contact information of the owner.
Dr. Diaz mentioned a nearby animal shelter called Barc Shelter which is a non-kill shelter that focuses on adoptions of animals that were lost and unclaimed or thrown out onto the streets. Barc Shelter is located at 253 Wythe Street in Brooklyn, NY. Their website is barcshelter.org.
For more information on Williamsburg Animal Clinic contact 718-302-2420 or visit http://www.williamsburgvetny.com.