I can honestly say that this is not a post I ever though I would be writing. I guess that falls in line with the rest of how Bear Creek has developed, because I never thought I would be the owner of practice like Bear Creek.
I never envisioned myself at this point in my life or career doing what I am now doing. To say it has been a journey with unexpected turns and surprises, ups and downs, is probably the biggest understatement of the century. Those of you that follow me personally via social media know that my life has taken some hits, but I have kept going. I have trudged on and tried to put on a brave face. When I have been in physical pain, I have tried to plaster on a smile and not let anyone know how hard I have been pushing myself.
My husband, family and friends have been my saving grace – my strength when I had none and my hope when I thought all was lost. My wonderful staff and veterinarians have really tried to hold things up when I have been out recently due to the broken ribs and damaged shoulder and do the things that I have been unable to do. They have performed beyond-amazingly and by-far exceeded their fair share of responsibility with great cost to their personal and family time. My family and friends have also missed having me in their lives. Even when I am home, Amy is not present, because my mind is always on Bear Creek. The reason for the stress has been multifaceted, but to sum it all up, Bear Creek and I have both been spread too thin.
I have sacrificed much over the years to be there for patients and clients. To be there for you guys has been very important to me because you are important to me. This community is important to me and you have shown that love right back by putting your trust in us since the day I first started out with nothing more than a pickup truck. That is the reason Bear Creek has grown as it has. The community and God’s grace has developed this practice into what it is, not me. Bear Creek has grown so large, so overwhelmingly busy, in such a short period of time that we are not able to handle the demand. This is a great blessing that is accompanied by great challenges.
The combination of large and small animal medicine and the added pressure of emergency duty has started to create cracks in our mental armor – to the point where none of us can get a break and the fear is that we will make mistakes and ruin the trust you have placed in us. We all feel the mental and emotional burden. It is wearing on all of us, but I feel as if the world is resting on my shoulders alone; that I am holding it all up. It’s that personal feeling that I’m the lynch-pin that everything revolves around so to speak. I’ve kept it all together for the most part, but only by a thread and that thread is unraveling. Before the thread breaks and everything comes crashing down around me and takes everyone out with it, I am making some tough decisions.
I have no doubt that these decisions will not be popular with everyone. I have however, given these decisions much thought and soul-searching. In the overall big picture side of things, this will allow Bear Creek to continue to serve this community as it always has, but with a different focus and renewed fervor.
It is my hope that Bear Creek will always be a place that you can put your trust in and come to for help and comfort. So here goes….
Large Animal Medicine
Bear Creek will no longer be able to provide large animal services in any capacity. My body simply cannot sustain more trauma and I will have to leave large animal medicine and opt for the safety of the clinic. I’ve been doing large-animal medicine for 17 years and the toll it has taken on my body was already causing me to have to plan for this decision – two decades of flanking 1,000 pound horses and cattle is brutal on the body. Lifting 200 pound pigs and goats onto the surgery table, pulling calves in the freezing mud in the of the night for too many years… it’s taken its toll on me physically. The recent injury that took my shoulder out of commission moved the time-table up quicker than I’d ever considered and sooner than I was ready for, but I can’t change it.
Dr Katie Pike’s specialized surgery skills in companion animal dentistry and her new found passion for this discipline has placed her in the clinic more and more as well. This is another mixed blessing. We are able to perform services in-house for clients that we couldn’t perform even two years ago. It saves you time and money by not having to travel to a specialist out of the county, which is a good thing, but it takes one of my large-animal doctors out of the field. This leaves the compassionate and dedicated Dr. Reynolds Gray to shoulder the burden of field work on her own. This is too daunting of a task for any one person, though she has done her best.
Large animal veterinarians are becoming a rare commodity.
I am saddened to say that fewer and fewer people are seeking a career in large animal medicine. The demand for veterinarians willing to live in rural areas and provide large animal medicine is at an all time low. The ability to hire additional veterinarians specifically to meet this need in a reasonable time frame is simply not achievable.
When you combine this with the growth of small-animal medicine and our need to add to the ever-increasing demand for veterinarians in the clinic, we can no longer spread our resources so thin. Large animal medicine is unique in that emergency duty is always a requirement.
There are no large animal emergency services that provide emergency coverage for practices when needed. We cannot simply say that we will only come out during the day and not at night like we can for small animal. We also cannot say that we will provide in-house large animal service on a haul-in only basis. We must provide farm call services to those that cannot come in and we must do it 24 hours a day, 365 days a year or we are not allowed to practice large-animal medicine. This is a NC vet board requirement set by the state, so we can’t work around it. I’ve tried, but state will not let Bear Creek operate large-animal during the day without also doing it at night, and with only one non-injured veterinarian to cover the entire large animal practice area, its simply not possible to continue without burning out our veterinarians.
Therefore, it is my decision to discontinue that portion of the practice altogether. Dr. Pike, Dr. Gray and I will move into the clinic and provide small animal services only. Dr Gray is still able to provide chiropractic services to all species including equine, but on an in-clinic basis only.
We also cannot provide routine preventative or emergency medicine any longer for large-animal patients due to the same limitation from the state. This will take affect beginning May 25, 2019 at 6 pm. Friday, end of business day, will be our last day of large animal medicine – and what I consider the end of era. This will be the closing of a chapter and the beginning of a new one. As the world marches forward, we must adapt to keep up. I do so regret that I feel as if I am leaving many of you behind, but I simply have no choice if I wish to continue to practice medicine and I do.
Emergency Hours
The next decision is also tough for me personally. We will no longer be able to provide emergency services to our small animal clients after regular business hours.
When I decided to do small animal medicine in 2013, it was with the pretense that I would do it the way I felt it should be done and that was to be on-call for after hours emergency services to my clients. I felt it was the right thing to do; to be there for my clients when they needed me most. After all, crises do not always happen during regular business hours. I do feel that this was something that set us apart initially.
I hope that now, after seventeen years serving this community, you feel that what really sets us apart is our compassion and desire to care for you and your pet no matter the problem, big or small. I have no problem telling you that providing after-hours emergency duty has been one of the biggest challenges to overcome in hiring and keeping veterinarians and staff members over the years.
Fewer and fewer are able or willing to work during the day and then be called back at night. Even with additional compensation, to be taken away from their children and spouses repeatedly, sometimes multiple times in the same night, is too great a burden to bear for most people. We’ve been so blessed with new patients faster than than we can build new clinic space to treat them these recent years. I’ve been actively seeking more veterinarians since 2014 and the single biggest reason they decline is because they aren’t willing to sacrifice their nights and weekends on top of their day shift.
The dwindling number of staff members that are sharing this duty is creating a drain on them. We have lost, and are going to continue to lose, good people to other jobs or clinics simply because they do not impose this duty on them.
Veterinarians that are willing to work evenings or share emergency duty are simply impossible to find in the market right now. Our current staff of veterinarians, technicians, assistants and receptionists are doing the best they can with the duties imposed on them by me and this clinic but they are operating in battle-field conditions day in and day out and have been for six months straight with no end in sight. I simply cannot ask it of them and myself any longer; for their well-being and my own. If I burn out my doctors or myself, there isn’t anyone left to care for the patients.
We will also be making additional accommodations to handle more appointments during regular business hours and going above and beyond to get everyone seen that needs to be seen. Having two more veterinarians in the clinic full time will allow us to see 40% more patients during the day than we have been able to in the past. However, once the phones roll over to after-hours, we will be referring to the Carolina Veterinary Specialty Hospital in Matthews, NC.
I know this sounds like a far drive to make in an emergency, but they are equipped to handle any emergency that comes their way and they are staffed 24-hours a day, which we are not. Short of a trip to Raleigh and the NC Veterinary Teaching Hospital, there is no place better equipped to handle your small animal emergencies.
The after hours emergency service will be discontinued immediately beginning April 29, 2019. The after-hours voicemail will be changed to notify clients and the referral hospital’s contact number will be posted.
House Calls
I am happy to announce that we plan to continue making small animal house calls on a limited basis, but the radius from the clinic for this service will be tightening to within 20 minutes from the clinic. Our range for house calls grew out of control; due mostly to our large animal service area. We have to reel that back in a little. With only one doctor in the field, we can’t drive one hour east, then one hour west and still see more than a few patients per day – and there are always more than a few patients to be seen for house calls.
In conclusion
To wrap-up this rather upsetting verbiage, it is my sincere wish that these decisions are met with understanding as we strive to continue to meet the demand for quality medicine and compassionate care for those in our community.
I realize that many will be burdened to find veterinary care elsewhere and this a regret I will have to carry.
I am posting contact information for practices that currently offer veterinary services for large animals within the circumference of patients we used to see. This is in no way an agreement between Bear Creek or these other practices. Your client records have not been sold and will never be. You are free to contact whomever you choose.
At your convenience, contact us and let us know your wishes as to where you would like your medical records to be sent and we will get them emailed in a timely manner. We can also email them directly to you and you may keep them for future use. Your information and records will not be deleted unless they are inactive for 3 years per standards set forth by the NCVMB.
If you are reading this, you are not just my clients, you are my friends and neighbors. I will see you in the grocery store and run into you at the post office. I do still hope to see most of you in the clinic. You are still in my heart and memory even if I don’t see you on the farm. The stories written in Tales from the Vet Truck will be filled with those memories.
Most sincerely,
Dr. Amy Jordan
I was always mystified by how the small staff at Bear Creek provided all of the round-the-clock services offered. I know it isn’t easy to make tough decisions, but you have to take care of you and your people–and great people they are! No one can be all things to all people, and self preservation is so important. If you burn out, and your staff burns out, then all services go out the window, and no one wants that. All our support as you move through this transition.
Thank you for understanding! This was the hardest decision I think she’s ever made for Bear Creek.
-Tommy
You & your doctor’s are the best! Guess Gracie & Odie will have to move closer to the clinic. We fully understand and love you. God. Bless all of you!
Over the years, you folks have helped us save some , bury some , and provided a full spectrum of services in between. Always kind, caring, and willing to listen to our ideas as to the direction of needed services. It was more like calling family and friends, than the vet. As we will always have need of small animal interventions ( Great Danes are hopefully still acceptable ) , we will be hard pressed to establish a similar trust in someone else with our bigger babies.
As you find the path that lessens the wobble of your World, please be aware that the Adams family of Troy wish you Light and Strength in that quest. Peace Be With You
How am I going to break this to Star ?????
Dr. Jordan you sre the best!
Dr. Amy, thank you and all at Bear Creek for everything you have done over the past 11 years for Ken and me and our beloved horses, starting with Fella and Gypsy, and your care before that at Misty Grove Stables. We can never thank you, Dr. Katie and Dr. Gray enough for your excellent care and concern for them, which now includes Concho, Annie, Cowboy and Pips, along with my Morgan Gypsy who passed naturally just over 2 years ago.
I am so grateful to Bear Creek and everyone there for all you have done. I pray that you will feel lighter now that decisions have been lifted from your shoulders. May God bless and comfort you as you follow His plans for you. God bless each and every one of you.
Love and gratitude,
Karen
Thank you so much for the kind words Karen. It really was a tough decision for her but comments like yours make it easier to bear.
-Tommy
I just moved all of my small and large animals here within the last two weeks mostly due to the after hours availability, since I live adjacent to the national Forest and there are lots of rattlesnakes. If Matthews NC is the small animal emergency clinic you recommend, are you referring your large animal patients somewhere? I’m new to the area and have no idea where to go now.
Heather,
There are a few large animal veterinarians in the region to pick from. Here are some to pick from:
Dr. Robin Smith – Yellow Horse Mobile
704-305-3673
Yellow Horse Vet Website
Rocky River Large Animal Veterinary Clinic
704-933-1792
Rocky River Large Animal Website
Dr. Robbie Whaley at Piedmont Equine Vet
704-989-3933
Piedmont Equine Vet
Dr. James Gardener – Large Animal Medicine & Surgery
704-637-0546
Large Animal Medicine & Surgery
I know these decisions must have been difficult to make. We sold our farm in Richfield and our cows last year. Dr. Pike and Dr. Jordan came out when we needed them, which thankfully, wasn’t often. Our 3 dogs are our only critters now. I’ve never had to use the after hours vet and was happy it was available. I can understand how everyone is spread thin. It leaves very little time for family, etc. Everyone needs a life outside of their daily work life. I like all the vets and staff but I must admit that I miss the front office people that used to be there because they were there for so long.
I understand this decision and appreciate what your team did for my Granddog Opie last year. Luckily his emergency was during the day but we changed out vet service because if the care you gave him and us. Recently brought one of my cats and got to see Amy with a work in appt. More appointments during the day sounds good also. What will the hours be now? Still open till 8:09?
We love the staff at Bear Creak. We will continue to bring our small animals. We have also used the emergency vet in Matthews and the staff and service there was outstanding. They are open when the regular vet closes. Working in the utility industry, I totally understand the demand of 24×7 work. We are lucky enough to have several emergency vets around the area. This leaves our favorite vets open to assist us on day to day issues. Thanks for giving us your detailed plan of the future so that we have time to make educated decisions for the large animals.
Amy,
Although it saddens me and all my critters to see you leave the large animal practice , I wanted to thank you for all the great services you have provided for mine and Meredith’s horses since 2006. We remember meeting you at our farm as you were just starting out and so were we in the fall of 2006, we had just moved here from the Outer Banks and thought WOW!! a vet from the Outer Banks.. no way!! You have provided the most amazing services and advise in all of our ups and downs with these damn horses:). Your guidance, professional care and knowledge of all of our needs were always met with a smile, great stories, real life drama and a sunshine attitude. Even as you held Meredith’s hand or helped her NOT pass out when a needle was presented or a little bit of blood …We thank you from the bottom of our heart Amy, all of your Bear Creek staff and your amazing family for meeting all of our needs even when it was a struggle. I wish you and the Bear Creek family the very best. You will always have a soft spot in my heart girl. We love you Amy.
Kelley Dauzat and Meredith Parker
You guys do an amazing job there. This must be a hard decision to make as much as you love all animals. My grandson wants to be a veterinarian and shadowed at your clinic for several Saturdays. He loves it and just cannot stop talking about it. I have been going ever sense you opened up and I knew it was going to be special from the start.
Taking care of the large animals has got to be so hard on a person. I really admire you. Thank you for all you do for our family of pets.
All of your people are so good, we give a shout of THANKS for all of you.
Time and time again I read Tommy’s posts where family get togethers or events with friends were happening, and Amy was called out to work, sometimes all night, and she would miss all the important things in life that we all hold so dear. I am so glad to hear that she will be able to live a normal life with her friends and family from now on. I know Tommy will be glad to have her back. Congratulations you guys. Have some fun together.
Hi Larry,
(Tommy here) Amy is working in the clinic this morning so I’m handling the responses to the website and newsletter. Yeah, I admit it’s a bit of an emotional roller-coaster for both of us. You can’t imagine how hard she’s agonized over this decision. Meeting after meeting after meeting trying to come up with every solution possible to meet the needs of the community with the resources she has… I’ve always loved the large animal side of what she does, but something finally occurred to me last night and I couldn’t help but smile…
For 17 years, my wife has had to go out on calls on Thanksgiving day almost every year. We spent three Thanksgiving nights in a row lying in the mud (and snow one year) with downed horses on Thanksgiving evening while her family and friends waited at the house for her to get back. The holidays are hard. She doesn’t want to ask other vets to miss their Thanksgiving, Christmas, or other major holidays. She’ll spend 10 hours in the kitchen cooking a meal for 40 people and then get called out two or three times. Some years she missed the entire dinner she worked all day creating.
For the first ten years on-call was all her all the time. These last few years have provided a small break… I’ll only have to lose her on Thanksgiving every OTHER year because recently they’ve had the other doctors to trade off holiday shifts. But if Amy gets Thanksgiving, then Grey has to give up Christmas with her family, or Pike has to miss a holiday with her family up north. These doctors have done it year after year though and so has their support staff.
I’ll miss the large animal aspect a lot, but I freely admit that I’m in love with the fact that my wife gets to enjoy every Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Easter, July 4th, and other holidays from now on… for the first time in her adult life. The community has had her for a lot of years on those special days. She can finally go out of town to see family on a holiday without making someone else cover her shift – something she hates to do. All the other doctors will get the same benefit as well. It’s going to be a welcome change from the perspective of her family and friends. I still can’t imagine what it will be like to have her for Christmas every year from now on. I’m sad from one perspective, but so very thankful from the other.
I would just like to say that I love you guys and all you guys do for me and Duke! We enjoy coming up there and seeing you guys and I know Duke enjoys seeing you guys too.
As a aspiring small business owner my self , I understand that sacrifices have to be made at some point in a businesses career. And I really hope that this helps elevate some of the stress out on you guys.
You guys have an amazing staff and we will continue to be there for you guys !
Hope you guys have a wonderful day ! <3
~Steven
I understand that this was done only after much soul searching, and these decisions were not easy ones for you to make. What I believe I appreciate the most in your letter is your concern for the well being of your workers and the time they were losing with their families. Not every business has this kind of heart! God bless you as you move into this new phase. I believe it will benefit everyone when all is said and done!
We hope this works for you and all the clients at Bear Creek…We Trust you with our animals and will continue to be clients… Orin Johanson
Dr. Any, as your client and friend, I couldn’t read this letter fast enough to see what changes you are making. This letter is so well written and obviously comes from your heart after a lot of thought and prayer. You have done and are doing an excellent job with the clinic that you started. It shows In this letter how you are working so hard to do what is best for everyone. I respect you even more knowing that you will make very hard business decisions when needed. Since I don’t have large animals, the only change that affects me personally is the after hours emergency care. I can say that the clinic in Matthews is very good. I just visited there recently with my Mom and her dog. They are top notch in my opinion.
Amy, thank you for being so open with your clients about what is going on and why. Thank you for running such a great veterinary clinic and for looking out for you employees’ and your well-being. I can’t Imagine how hard this is for you, but it sounds like a very wise decision to me. I continue to wish you and your family and your staff the very best. Thank you for all you have done and will continue to do for me and my doggies!
Sad news but very understandable. Good luck with the changes.
We love you Dr. Amy. We appreciate all you have done. We will be continued patients for sure!
I’m a FB follower, not local, but have long said and believed that if I was local, my two cats would be clients of this amazing vet practice and particularly of Dr. Amy, who exhibits a level of dedication and concern for patients that is simply inspirational. I know what this decision must have cost you in sleepless nights and worry; and trust that you know you cannot help anyone if you do not care for yourself (for all of yourselves) and ensure that you are healthy and safe. Best wishes to you all in this next phase of your journey… with much love.
Amy,
Thank you for all you do for my animals and as a nurse I can totally see where this is coming from. Although I don’t have large animals, I know this lifestyle has taken much from you as well as your health. I truly appreciate all the time, effort and hard-work you put into the clinic each and every day. I hope you and your staff will get some much needed rest and time off, as you should, and enjoy the upcoming summer and holidays with family.
Lisa Lunsford
Dr. Gray, Thank you for all your kind care of Symba! I will miss you but understand the situation. Best of the future for you all. Kay Hawkins
Tough decisions are that…… tough.
Though I am personally saddened by this news, I can appreciate and respect your decision.
Dr. Amy, we are very appreciative of the years of service you have provided with our alpacas (and pyranees) over the years. There’s been many visits with you since we started with you back in 2008.
Now that the herd is so much smaller, we don’t have occasion to see you as often. But we trust you implicitly in the care of our critters, given your depth of knowledge of the unique needs of the camelid.
I’d welcome a recommendation for alpaca care, as we learned the hard way that not all vets understand their unique qualities and how to best manage their care/ meds, etc.
All the best.
I am sorry to know you Amy and your staff will no longer be treating large animals. For several years I have been able to get one of you out to help with cattle issues and even some shots on the side, while you were there, for cats and dogs. I understand why you are stopping this service, but I sure will miss knowing y’all aren’t there to call on for the large animals! Good luck on your small animal practice!!
Tough decision is an understatement! The most important thing in the world is to look after you head, your heart and your body. It will take time for people to get used to change but they will. Please take care, take some time for yourself, for Tommy and your family. Rest, relax and revitalise 🙂
Recently I had my Pot Belly pig Tilly there for her hoof trim. Although the doctor came out and spoke with us, it was a technician who performed the services.That young lady was a pig whisperer, and did a phenomenal job! I am truly sorry I did not get her name!
It was she, along with another technician who administered and monitored the anesthetic, and she spent the entire time in the crate with Tilly.
I truly understand the need for the doctor to back away from certain aspects of the practice, but I struggle to understand why this (hoof) service has been terminated, when it was performed by someone other than the doctor.
There was absolutely no need for the doctor to do anything but speak with us.
I drove almost an hour and a half just to have this trimming performed. The need for large animal services and the lack of qualified people at Bear Creek is recognized, so please explain why more Veterinarians are not hired?
That young lady could teach many more qualified people how to trim hooves. I would gladly pay her double to continue to provide the service.
Donna Feuchtenberger–Rock Hill, SC
Donna,
(This is Tommy, Dr. Amy’s husband)
Thanks for your comment. You aren’t alone in your sentiment. The answer is a state-level one, not something the clinic wants to do. The docs would love to do ALL kinds of in-clinic large animal work if they could. The problem comes with not doing 24×7 emergency work. There is a state requirement that if you see any particular kind of animal (large or small) as a client, you are required to provide for 24 hour emergency services for that client at night as well.
Let’s use the example of Coggins or pre-purchase exams – those are EASY to do and take only a few minutes. They could do 50 of them a day with no problem. Same with pet pigs, right? You’re correct – the process is simple, so why can’t they just see you during the day like they always have, right?
For small animal, that’s no problem. There are 24-hour emergency clinics for small animals all over the place, so you just refer them out to those clinics when you aren’t open. You serve the patient during the day, and the emergency clinic serves them at night. The state is happy and the patients have a resource 24 hours a day.
There is NOT a large animal emergency clinic that will agree to see the clinic’s overflow at night for pet pigs, horses, cattle, etc. So, the only way Bear Creek can see – for example a pet pig – is to be available to see it 24x7x365 since there is no emergency clinic willing to take them on. They either have to do after-hours emergency services for large animal, or they can’t see large animal at all. This isn’t the way they’d LIKE to do it, but it’s the way the state has it setup in its regulations. It’s against the law to see a pet pig/horse/alpaca/llama/goat/sheep/etc during the day unless you’re willing to cover emergencies at night or can refer them elsewhere, and there’s no one that will take the referrals after-hours. The only legal solution is not to see them at all – regardless of what they’d like to do. Breaking that rule would lose them their license to practice medicine.
It’s not the answer Dr. Amy was hoping for. She’s talked to the state about an exclusion for pet pigs, but there isn’t one. Technically, according to the state, they fall under large animal. The same holds true for backyard poultry, such as chickens. She can’t see them either for the same reason.
I know this isn’t the answer you wanted, but I hope the explanation helps a little bit. It’s definitely not a choice they wanted to make, but as long as that rule persists, there is no getting around it.
Over the years I watched as you built the building & I noticed as your clientele changed but you were growing. I remember the frozen night that you & one of the small animal vets jumped up & down in my barn to keep warm as you administered fluids to Scarlet to get her past an impaction colic. People were wary of your skills at first but I encouraged them to use you as I thought a local vet (just 5 miles from my house was valuable) & you were. I live in TN now & was told that if I have an emergency horse problem that around here, I’m out of luck. I understand how things change over time looking at 70 this year. I’m sure you will be missed by the local horse community. I hope only the best for you guys because you were always good to me.
You know I think you are great.all the vets are wonderful. Dr
Pike and. Dr. Clonniger are great along with everyone else there. You have been wonderful to our animals. Thank you for all you have done and will do. See you soon with my one eyed three legged cat named Tom.
These decisions had to be hardest Dr. Amy has ever made. “Miss China”, our Shih Tzu, has been with Bear Creek since Gary rescued her almost five years ago. Dr. Amy and Dr. Matt have saved her life twice, and she has been my greatest therapy since Gary passed in January. No one can hold up to the hours, services, and dedication Bear Creek has provided. Do what is best for the doctors, staff and especially your families. Bear Creek is the best.
Broken-hearted to say the least.
Dr.Amy, I’m sorry you have to scale back due to injuries & other circumstances, but you are the best I’ve ever seen when it comes to compassion for your clients & patients. I’ve been a client of yours since before you started seeing small animals. You were the only Veterinarian that was willing to come to my home & put my beautiful baby Rotti -Sasha down when she was soo sick & in soo much pain I could not stand trying to lift her to bring her to a Vet. I asked you then about being my other dog’s Vet, but didn’t do small animals. I was sadden by that news but delighted later to see you took that practice up & I have not been any where else since you started with small animals. Prayers for you, your staff & all of your families that you will have great health to continue to treat our Fur babies as you have in the past. Thank you soo much for all you do for your clients. May you have many more years with your staff & the business you have built.
Thank you soo much.
Sincerely,
Shannon Stancil
Dr.. Amy, even though I have only had my little one with you for a short period of time I feel this was a very hard thing for you to do. Those that know you and your staff will stick with you and those that can not because of their large animals will understand. Life does not always go as we plan but we all have to adjust and do what is best for our family and our health. I hope to see you my next trip with my little Mattie. Take care
Jan Benton