The Richmond-based Regional Animal Protection Society (RAPS) will open the doors to its new animal hospital on Tuesday, Feb. 13.
After a protracted wrangle with the College of Veterinarians of B.C. (CVBC) over the naming of the hospital – which threatened to bring the non-profit to its knees, financially – the RAPS Animal Hospital will open at the Richmond Auto Mall.
RAPS will host an invite-only grand opening on Family Day, Feb. 12, before being open for business the public the following day.
Once open, facility will be a full-service, community-supported veterinary hospital, owned and operated by RAPS.
RAPS decided last year to open its own hospital in a bid to deal with an annual, crippling bill for veterinary care, which ran into hundreds of thousands of dollars.
As well, revenue generated by services to the public at the new hospital will support every area of RAPS’ work.
RAPS had committed financially to the tune of $750,000 ($50,000 a month) to open the 6,000 square-foot facility at the Richmond Auto Mall.
RAPS had wanted to name the facility “regional” but the college, which has to approve the hospital before it can open, said the use of the word “regional” may confuse some people into thinking it was an official facility for the province.
The college’s CEO and registrar, Luisa Hlus, told the News a few weeks ago that the two parties had "reached an accord" with regard to the hospital's naming and that certain "stipulations" as to how RAPS would be able to operate have been "tweaked to everyone's satisfaction."
