Clinic center: New veterinary learning center and more

Recently, a Tennessee-based university and an online pet health provider and retailer partnered to support the construction of a new learning space inside an upcoming Animal Services building. Moreover, a new clinic is set to open in Rhode Island, along with a boarding and dog daycare facility in Illinois.

Below are 3 upcoming animal care facility openings:

Clay County Animal Services (Middleburg, Florida)

Clay County Animal Services groundbreaking ceremony. (Image courtesy of Chewy Health)

Clay County, Florida officials, Lincoln Memorial University (LMU), and Chewy Health recently broke ground on a new Animal Services building in Middleburg, Florida. During the groundbreaking ceremony, Chewy and LMU also pledged a $1 million donation for the development of an educational space, called the Chewy Health & Lincoln Memorial University Applied Learning Center, in the Animal Services facility. At the learning center, veterinary students from LMU specializing in shelter medicine will be able to use it for hands-on learning in a real-world shelter environment. According to Chewy, the center will also be used for community events and educational programming. The Animal Services building, together with the learning center, is planned to open in 2026.

“We’re proud of the hard work our staff does each and every day for the animals in our care, and this partnership and new building will only augment those efforts,” said Clay County Commissioner Betsy Condon, in a news release.¹ “We’re not only building a shelter—we’re building more opportunities for our community, the animals in our county, and the aspiring veterinarians who will one day care for them.”

Veterinary Urgent Care Center (Narragansett, Rhode Island)

The town of Narragansett in Rhode Island will have a new clinic soon. The Veterinary Urgent Care Center (VUCC) in Narragansett will be one of 8 VUCC locations in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Founded by Christie D’Andrea, DVM, VUCC of Narragansett is expected to open this spring and will offer general and emergency services, as well as surgical services for uterine infections and foreign bodies for certain cases.² The clinic will also feature a radiology suite and in-house diagnostics.

The Narragansett community is one that is very similar to our Plymouth, Massachusetts location, where there is a large spike in the number of people who live and vacation there in the summer months,” D’Andrea said in a news report.² “We want to be a good partner to the general practices in the area when their pets need same-day care and another option for folks when they don’t need to visit emergency medical centers for non-emergent injuries and illnesses.”

K9 Resorts Luxury Pet Hotel (Deerfield, Illinois)

K9 Resorts Luxury Pet Hotel, a luxury boarding and dog daycare franchise will be opening its first location in Deerfield, Illinois on June 21, 2025. The facility will feature an air purification and ventilation system for maintaining clean air and outdoor play yards with antimicrobial K9Grass. According to K9 Resorts, the franchise intends to launch 48 new locations across the US, with up to 11 in Southern California, 13 in Florida, and 11 spread throughout Virginia and Washington DC. By 2029, the organization aims to establish up to 8 locations in the greater Chicagoland area.

"We're thrilled to bring K9 Resorts to Deerfield. Dogs are family, and we believe they deserve the same level of care and comfort we would expect for ourselves,” Zack Nisbet, executive vice president of the Chicago region for Luxury Pet Hotel Investments LLC, which owns K9 Resorts Deerfield, said in a news release.³ “Chicagoland dogs are going to enjoy a healthy, safe, and loving environment inside our custom-designed resort."

References

1. Clay County breaks ground on new animal services building, announces $1M pledge from Chewy Health in partnership with Lincoln Memorial University. News release. Chewy Health. May 27, 2025.
2. Seymour B. New veterinary clinic in Narragansett eyes late May opening. Southern Rhode Island Newspapers. March 14, 2025. Accessed May 28, 2025. https://www.ricentral.com/narragansett_times/new-veterinary-clinic-in-narragansett-eyes-late-may-opening/article_37d7ea92-00f9-11f0-8d48-cb83fb3817f0.html
3. K9 Resorts set to make Illinois debut. News release. K9 Resorts. May 8, 2025. Accessed May 28, 2025. https://prnmedia.prnewswire.com/news-releases/k9-resorts-set-to-make-illinois-debut-302450157.html