In a big blow to the animal and pet community in Santa Barbara-as well as to the nearly 60 employees out of a job just days before the holidays-the California Animal Referral and Emergency Hospital, better known as CARE, closed Wednesday.
The hospital was the only one of its kind in the entire county, providing 24-hour emergency services to animals up and down the Central Coast. The Pet Emergency Clinic and the Ventura Medical and Surgical Group-both in Ventura-are now the closest two hospitals to Santa Barbara, putting pet owners in a pickle should their animal face an emergency situation.
The hospital, open since 2003, stopped accepting emergency appointments Tuesday morning, and honored surgical and internal medicine appointments through Wednesday. The two owners, Drs. Deanna Purvis and Trisha Lane, say they were forced to close after losing a lawsuit filed against them and CARE by cofounder Dr. Eric Wright.