Banfield Pet Hospital and its CEO have parted ways, company representatives confirmed Thursday.
Vincent Bradley officially resigned Jan. 31. He had served as top executive of the Vancouver-based pet care company since February 2015.
Brian Garish, senior vice president and chief operating officer, has been named the new president. Representatives said Garish will take over permanently and there will not be a search for a replacement.
The change in CEOs follows the early January announcement that Banfield’s parent company, Mars Inc., will buy another veterinary company, VCA Inc., for $7.7 billion.
Mars, a privately held confectioner famous for making M&Ms, Skittles and other candies, also has a growing pet care portfolio. It owns veterinary company BluePearl Veterinary Partners and pet food brands Pedigree, Iams and Royal Canin.
Bradley oversaw the relocation of company headquarters from northeast Portland near Interstate 84 — also known as the Banfield Freeway — to a 206,000-square-foot facility in east Vancouver. The move was completed in June.
Bradley recently spoke at The Columbian’s Economic Forecast Breakfast, where he was credited for starting the Banfield Foundation, the charitable arm of the company, in 2015.
At the breakfast, he boasted the company had a record year in 2016 with 8.2 million pet visits. Part of its success, he said, was its streamlined record-keeping that allowed pets to visit any of its 978 hospitals, many of which are located inside PetSmart stores.
Banfield has nearly 16,000 employees across 42 states. It has 728 workers in Clark County. The company has had a presence in Vancouver since 1994.
