John Claus sits at the front desk of a small animal hospital in a Vancouver strip mall, answering phones and greeting walk-ins. He moves quickly from one task to another.
Peter, meanwhile, sits firmly planted atop the front desk, accepting pats on his large orange head. The tabby is at home at Claus Paws, along with his fellow cat Roy and a dog named Nona.
Claus, co-owner with his wife Kathryn of the animal hospital, is filling in as receptionist on a short-staffed day. The phone rings constantly and people trickle in and out even on a quiet day.
“We’re busting at the seams,” he says, pointing to a computer screen that shows the previous two days of appointments and emergency appointments, all blocked out.
That success is allowing the Clauses to finally move forward with long-delayed plans to build a new, much larger animal hospital. “We’re doing this because we need to better service our client base and we can’t do it here,” he said.
Claus has filed plans with the city for an 8,000-square-foot, two-level facility that will dwarf the existing 1,770-foot hospital building. The current location will close and Claus Paws will move when the new hospital is ready, perhaps next summer.
“It’s going to be a hub of the east-side veterinary community,” Claus said. With the new hospital, Claus plans to double his staff from 10 to 20, adding an orthopedic veterinarian and possibly a holistic practitioner.
The roughly $1.5 million project started in 2007 when Claus and his veterinarian wife purchased the land at 5819 N.E. 162nd Ave. But then the recession hit and unforeseen hurdles such as costs and high city permitting fees stalled the project. Veterinary medicine is known to be recession-resistant “but it is certainly not recession-proof,” John Claus said.
After saving money and working through the issues, Claus says they are ready to move on with the project and are working with developer Roy Heikkala of Rite Menter Investments Inc. He does not yet have an artist’s rendering of the building and plans to use Heikkala’s expertise to find a construction company.
The new hospital will include nearly 6,000 feet on the first floor for the animal hospital and more than 2,000 square feet of office space on the second floor.
Claus didn’t provide projected revenue growth numbers but said he cannot adequately serve the current volume of clients.
Associate veterinarian Dawn Evert could attest to that. “I’m eating lunch while I write my charts and call people,” she said.
Claus, who opened Claus Paws 15 years ago, added he has no trouble competing with national chains.
“I feel like we can beat national chains on almost every level,” he said, highlighting the customer service and low client turnover rate of not only his hospital but other local vets. “I love competing with corporate chains all day long,” he said.
The couple’s love of animals is clear. They saved Roy, who likes to sprawl out on an examining table, from possible euthanization due to a urinary tract infection. Their work is not about business but rather is a calling for both of them, one that Kathryn Claus said she knew she had when she was 12.
“Nobody gets in this business to make money,” John Claus said. “We do it because we are drawn to help animals and the community.”
