Proudly woman-owned and LGBTQ, Seattle-based Urban Animal aims to combat the unprecedented corporatization of the veterinary industry.
Urban Animal offers option-based veterinary medicine, and because the team knows that owning a pet can be expensive, it’s based on the belief that care should be accessible to everyone. As another way to break down barriers, for one day each month, Urban Animal donates its clinic and employee salaries to offer complimentary veterinary services and health care to pets of qualified low-income and homeless pet owners in Seattle.
As the first worker cooperative veterinary practice, Urban Animal allows its 110 employees to share in the management and revenue of the 11-year-old company (which already has more than 50,000 clients). At the launch of LCA, Dr. Cherri Trusheim, DVM, Founder and CEO of Urban Animal, gifted a portion of the company to plant it. The real goal? To eventually become a 100 percent worker-owned co-op.
Dr. always wanted. Trusheim to be a veterinarian and also have an entrepreneurial spirit. “The latter pushed me to think outside the box and work for change within my industry,” he said. “I wanted to challenge the status quo by building something different.”
“Veterinary professionals are the heart and soul of this industry,” Trusheim continued, “and they must determine how care is provided, making the happiest cats and dogs possible. We invest our lives, not just dollars. .”
She can definitely agree to always be an animal lover — and shares her history with humor. “I’ve gone past ‘reasonable’ once and had four dogs, a cat, AND a human baby,” she says. “It’s too much, and I believe it’s over the legal limit in Seattle! I’ve learned over the years how much can go into meeting an animal’s true needs, so I’m limiting myself now.” Currently, he has two amazing mixed bullies – one old and one young.
He thinks all veterinary professionals would agree that paying their bills by spending every day on animals is “pretty rad.” He added, “I’m now working on building a sustainable company run by veterinary professionals – that’s also incredibly rewarding.”
Trusheim shares that while this line of work is incredibly rewarding, it’s also emotionally draining. “There are many emotions in the human-animal relationship, which can be difficult to navigate on any given day. Humanization – whether good OR bad for dogs and cats – has created profit centers for corporations and a more challenging work environment for veterinary professionals.” He said that most workers in this field take their jobs home; it’s hard to leave.
When asked one thing that might surprise readers about this industry, he said, “Do you know who owns your vet? Candy bar, coffee and cosmetics companies — conglomerates and investment companies (Mars and JAB holding company). They own a significant percentage of veterinary practices — to the point where the FTC has forced divesting. What looks like a mom-and-pop is often not. This has real implications for owners of pet owner.”
On the contrary, he says Urban Animal is building a company owned and operated by people who have dedicated their lives to helping cats and dogs.
“It makes sense for them and it’s better for our community,” he said. He then shared a bonus treat: “Our training locations have cool interiors that make you feel like you could hang out and drink beer if we could offer them. Comfortable and interesting spaces, not the your average vet.”
Learn more about Urban Animal here.
Corinne Whiting is a freelance writer for Seattle Refined. Follow more of his adventures here.
