City Council Votes for Salt Creek Vets for Vaccination Clinic
Dr. Keelan Lewis, the owner of Salt Creek Veterinarian Clinic in Olney, appeared before the city council Jan. 14 to address the agreement the city made with P.E.T.S., a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization located in Wichita Falls.
Lewis gave the council members a copy of a petition signed by business owners which served as an illustration of the support local businesses provide to one another. “I contacted local business owners who agreed to sign a petition which is an indication of how strong Olney is,” Lewis said. “Everything you need is provided by businesses that are locally owned and operated by our citizens. Some of the businesses on the petition have three generations of ownership that are still maintaining in Olney.”
After discussing Salt Creek’s tiered care plans available to pet owners, Lewis said she hoped her appeal to the council would improve communication between local businesses and the city and to see if there is a way the council would back out of the verbal agreement the city made with P.E.T.S. to show support of a local tax-paying businesses. Lewis said, “There is not much need for a vaccination clinic when our business [Salt Creek ] is located 1.5 miles outside of town offering the same services and price points that [P.E.T.S.] arranged with the city six days a week.” She then stated she was open to questions and suggestions on ways prevent communication flaws between local businesses and administration in the future.
Olney resident Kathy Muncy attended the city council meeting and responded to Lewis’ appeal to the city council. “ I heard about this, and no offense to you [Dr. Lewis]. I feel this is a disservice to people in town because you are removing a choice. Right now, there is a food truck that is located up the street. Why aren’t we running it out of town? [The food truck] is competing with restaurants that are locally owned,” said Muncy.
Lewis responded, “My complaint is not direct competition. [My complaint] is that our municipality chose to partner with an out-oftown nonprofit group that does not pay city taxes to get services that are no better than what a tax-paying, local business can offer.”
P.E.T.S., a low-cost spay and neuter clinic, launched in 2007 with a goal to combat the overpopulation of unwanted pets in Wichita Falls and surrounding communities. According to the company’s website, “P.E.T.S. is not a full-service vet clinic. We cannot treat sick or injured animals. We encourage all pet owners to establish and maintain a relationship with a full-service veterinarian.”
In a follow-up conversation with Muncy, she pointed out that she is an advocate for the support of local businesses, but she is also aware of the problem we have with nonvaccinated and nonregistered dogs in town. Muncy said a win-win would be to allow P.E.T.S. to come in and perform the vaccinations. “Let P.E.T.S vaccinate a large population of the animals and next time call the local vet, but the prices must be affordable,” Muncy added.
Lewis said her intention is not to infringe on the rights of another business to conduct business. “I would have no complaint if the city permitted P.E.T.S. to come in and do business because that is their right. My complaint as a tax-paying local business entity that provides various services to our community is if [the city administration] chose to partner with someone, it would have been a local business,” Lewis explained to Muncy and council members.
Muncy told the city council that a nonprofit could offer rates at a lesser price and sometimes those lesser prices make a huge difference for someone who may be struggling to pay for services.
Mayor Phil Jeske called for a vote from the council to allow Salt Creek to conduct the vaccination clinic Jan. 26. He said, “I agree that the $5 difference in price could be an issue for someone, but by the same token, it is impossible to compete on an apple-to-apple basis when someone is a nonprofit and not paying income taxes. I think just like any other business in Olney; it is our duty as a municipality and citizen if we are going to live here, we are going to support our businesses. I understand as a citizen of Olney I’ve got to support the local businesses, or they are not going to be here,” Jeske said.
The council voted to allow Salt Creek to manage the vaccination clinic. Salt Creek agreed to lower the vaccination rates for the clinic. The vaccination clinic will be at the civic center Jan. 26. Please make sure your pets are properly vaccinated. For more information, please contact Salt Creek Veterinary Clinic by calling 940.228.1759 Monday – Friday 8 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. and Saturday 8 a.m. until noon.