Frantic pet owners have been forced into a mad scramble to get their pet’s records and rapidly find an alternative practitioner after word emerged this week that Dr. Joseph Turk is ceasing operations at Animal Care Center on Niles Avenue in the Southtown neighborhood of St. Joseph and shutting the place down.
The message struck like a bolt out of the blue to even long time employees of the veterinary clinic which moved to Niles Avenue just a few short years ago after being ensconced on Napier Avenue across from the Orchards Mall for many years.
The sudden closure was confirmed earlier today when the clinic posted the following note on their Facebook fan page:
ANNOUNCEMENT: To all of our wonderful friends and clients: We regret to inform you that Animal Care Center will be closing our doors indefinitely this Saturday, March 31st. Dr. Turk is no longer able to run the hospital, so this weekend we made the difficult decision to close. We are working to transfer all patient records to a local veterinarian as soon as possible. We will continue to care for all boarders in our hospital until they are picked up as scheduled later this week. We deeply regret the inconvenience, and we will miss all of our friends, clients, and patients very much. Any additional news will be posted here and in other outlets. Thank you for your patronage and understanding.
I had learned of the stunning decision from an anxious pet owner early yesterday afternoon and had reached out to Dr. Turk to no avail. I was, however, successful in communicating briefly with Dr. Allison O’Neill who joined the practice in August of 2016. We had established a plan to meet to discuss what might happen next and how the termination had come about, but that 3pm meeting today was canceled because Dr. O’Neill has been frantically working with pet owners to get their records pulled and ready for transition.
The clinic has been busy answering anxious phone calls and responding to comments on Facebook from clientele concerned about ill pets, canceled appointments, records transfers and other issues. Faithful clients also expressing grief over the impending loss of a trusted veterinarian who has cared for family pets for many years.
Dr. Turk had invested substantially in retrofitting the former office facility into a first class animal care clinic and many expressions about the beauty of that space and the sadness over its impending loss are being shared in the community.
Dr. O’Neill has not indicated what her plans are going forward. She was as startled as anyone over the sheer suddenness of the announcement and the very short ramp before closure. Regarding her future in the community, stay tuned.
The Animal Care Center is located at 2845 Niles Avenue next to the Dairy Queen and across from Harding’s Market.
