A county building in SODO has gone to the dogs … and cats

Rather than a ribbon-cutting for the clinic’s grand opening Wednesday, King County Executive Dow Constantine and Doney Coe Pet Clinic board president Marti Casey linked two dog leashes together and held them high to symbolize the partnership between the nonprofit clinic and the county.

“Whether you have a 20-year-old shelter cat, like I do, or a dog, or for that matter, a lizard, or a rabbit, or a bird, or a fish, that’s our family,” said Constantine, whose cat is named Kiyomi. “Even for people with good steady incomes, the cost of veterinary care can be significant. … For those who are struggling with housing insecurity, that can become an agonizing choice between some of the necessities of life and the necessary care. That’s where Doney Coe Pet Clinic comes in.”

The clinic has only one full-time and one part-time employee. It relies heavily on volunteer veterinarians and vet techs to provide their services, as well as vet students from Washington State University who come to help every other Saturday. Many of those volunteers work at Urban Animal, whose owner Dr. Cherri Trusheim sits on Doney Coe’s board.