Save Animal House

Hello, this is Dr. Catrina Herd and I own Animal House, Nashville. I am so sorry I have been unable to care for your pets. I am doing everything I can to recover from the devastation that forced me to close the practice. I actually believed their were honest, loyal, corporations out there that actually stood behind their promises and had strong values and character. I searched high and low until I found a company I believed in and thought they would be a good fit for Animal House. They promised to continue to allow us to serve the community in the same capacity we always had.. bottom line.. I made the biggest mistake of my life when I exposed my team to a corporation. They onboarded all of Animal House staff and we were all excited about being part of a bigger organization. Their benefits and pay far exceeded what I could do for my team so it seemed like a win, win situation.. we had a few concerns but we were told to trust the corporation so we conceded.. signed contracts and were excited about the future then it happened.. two days before closing, after almost 2 years of negotiations, the corporation changed their mind and walked away. My team was absolutely devastated.. I had let everyone on my team down because I believed we could trust them.. I was wrong. They financially bankrupted me by lawyer fees to get to the point of closing, paying vacation out to all of my staff, paying my hospital director for hours and hours of generating reports and making it happen, and finally when they walked away after committing to pay raises, paying tuition for my assistants in technician school, incentives for my hospital director.. the list seemed to never end but I tried to fulfill the commitments the organization made to my team but I failed. After they walked away and gave the reason of the downside being greater than the upside.. huh? I simply tried to survive but we had all lost hope.. Two of my 10 year amazing team veterinarians put their notice in and I could not fathom Animal House without them.. my team fell apart and I have no idea where I will get the money to sue the corporation or reopen the clinic.. but I’ve always believed that if I follow my heart.. and treat people with compassion, kindness, and love, then everything will work out in the end. I will use funds to recruit, train, and hire our next Animal House, Nashville team so we can get back to serving you and our community.