If you are reading this and happen to be an animal, now would be a very good time to consider moving to Capitol Hill.
The vacated Blockbuster building on Broadway between Pike and Pine is under construction to become a new Mud Bay location, the popular pet food and health chain that currently has a location on Pine Street.
Keeping with the new pet-friendly vibe on Broadway, a new veterinarian office is also under construction in an area normally associated with improving the health of two-legged animals.
Having shut its doors in February of this year, the old Blockbuster will see light again as the home of a new Mud Bay location, according to posters in the window of the space. The new location is opening following the announcement of plans to redevelop the block the current Mud Bay location calls home on E Pine.
According to Charlene Hassencahl of Mud Bay, the company plans to continue operating both locations with employees from E Pine moving up to the Broadway store. UPDATE: Mud Bay’s E Thomas store will also continue to operate. UPDATEx2: Hassencahl clarified that Mud Bay does intend to close its E Pine location once the Broadway store opens. By 2013, Mud Bay will continue to operate two Capitol Hill locations: the new space on Broadway and the long-time space on E Thomas. Clarity!
will take up two-thirds of the space, Hassencahl said, and is expected to be open by the end of the year.
In a neighborhood with a relatively small percentage of households with children in a city with a relatively small percentage of households with children, it’s likely a fair bet that Capitol Hill spends an inordinate amount of time and money caring for cats, dogs, fish, snakes, pigs, ferrets, warthogs, rats, sugar gliders, turtles and tarantulas. Long-time Hill businesses like The Feed Bag and relative newcomers such as Happy Endings cater to pets while the Downtown Doggy Lounge and Rex make sure canine companions are well cared for and groomed. The Pillars Park off-leash area is a community gathering place and the Capitol Hill Animal Clinic on 15th Ave E and 12th Ave’s Broadway Veterinary Clinic see a steady stream of cats mewing in protest of their protective cages.
Another clinic is set to join the ranks. Construction crews confirmed that a former medical office in the 1001 Broadway Building near Madison and Broadway is currently being converted into a new veterinarian office.
According to the DPD permit, the new tenant will be called , and is linked to a veterinarian at a clinic on Lake City Way. Attempts to reach the group opening the veterinarian office have not yet been successful. CHS will update as more details come in but, yes, we get a small kick out of the idea that Pill Hill will also now have a facility to treat fuzzy buddies.
UPDATE: Urban Animal is expected to open at the end of October. Cherri Trusheim, who currently works at Animal Critical Care & Emergency Service, is opening the practice. “I chose Capitol Hill because it’s my favorite neighborhood and when I did relief several years ago I worked a ton on the hill. Favorite clients were there!” Trusheim said.
Mud Bay has stores on Thomas and Pine.
Wasn’t clear whether this new location will make it 3 on Capitol Hill or not.
Thanks for catch. will clarify.
Presumably, they will consolidate to a single location on Broadway. I like the E Thomas St store; the staff are always friendly and helpful.
If I’m reading correctly, the Thomas St location will remain open and all the staff from the E Pine store will relocate to the new Broadway location. I agree, the crewf at Thomas St is terrific! I sort of feel the E Pine employees are more interested in gossiping among themselves than paying close attention to the customers. Just my personal vibe.
Spokesperson said the plan is to keep E Pine open after Broadway move. Given possible construction schedule, that might not be a very long extra life for the E Pine spot. We’ll double check on E Thomas but Mud Bay didn’t say it was closing in initial discussion.
…best estimates are that for every additional Mud Bay on Capitol Hill there are 0.7 additional piles of unscooped crap per city block and 28 entitled obliviots who take their companion animals inside food service establishments.
Mud Bay has clarified its earlier statements — the E Pine location will, indeed, close once Broadway is open. There will be MBs on Broadway and E Thomas in 2013. Rejoice.
While it is true that a huge variety of pets reside on Capitol Hill, Mud Bay caters only to dogs and cats. Same with all the vets on the Hill.
I see very, very few unscooped piles of dog poop.
As for clueless nimrods bringing their dogs into food establishments and grocery stores, that’s for sure.
Most of these aren’t service animals, but the grocery stores are too scared to challenge people and throw them out. I wish they would. I doubt any of these “entitled obliviots” would file complaints.
Isn’t there a mobile vet putting roots down on Harvard just north of Olive? City Cat??
Good to hear Mud Bay is staying near by. Good products and good people.
Yes, there’s a sign for “City Cat” on Harvard Avenue East just north of Olive Way.
http://citycatmobilevet.com/
-Doug
I could be wrong, but I’ve heard business aren’t actually allowed to ask if it is a service animal (and service animals aren’t required to wear anything special showing they are a service animal).. The businesses are probably just scared of a lawsuit if they were to ask the wrong someone with an animal to leave.
However, I think it is rude to competely ignore No Animals Allowed signs or not to ask if it is possible. I love animals but I do not think animals need to go into non-animal estabilishments. Mud Bay, Pet Stores, etc, all fine, but restaurants, clothing stores, etc., not cool.
You are correct, LE. They can’t question it or require any of that, which is why umvue was referring to them as “entitled obliviots”. They know they can get away with it and they can’t be questioned.
I was just saying I wish some of the stores would call the bluff and ask them to leave. I doubt any of them would really go to the trouble to file complaints.
I shop at a neighborhood store (which shall remain nameless) that’s way more down-to-earth and, shall we say, “real” than these stores yuppies cart their dogs into. A sign on the door says “no animals”, and the general atmosphere is one of “homie don’t play that shit”. The people in the store would ask them to leave, law or not, and I think everybody knows it. Guess what? Hardly ever see a dog in that store. Like, almost never.
Cherri Trusheim saw my dog on a Saturday morning when we had a small emergency. She was simply wonderful. I’m glad that she’s opening her own practice here on CH.
@JimS, you’re clearly not walking in front of my apt and on my block. I encounter unscooped poop ALL the time. In fact, it’s gotten worse this summer.
I wish it were true that the entitled people bringing their non-service pets into food stores, restaurants, etc. were actually just “clueless.” Far from it….they know exactly what they are doing, i.e. breaking the law…..but they don’t care.
Somehow I doubt that it is against the law to ask someone if their pet is a service animal. Does anyone have a link to verify this? But it really doesn’t matter, because if asked the owners of a non-service animal would just lie about it.
It’s great to have alternatives to the currents vets on the hill. I tried Broadway Vet when I first got my cat and the vet there insisted I get a full senior panel that would cost hundreds of dollars I didn’t have. I asked for an alternative or modified version, someway we could work within my budget. They wouldn’t even bother. I also had a lizard that no vet in the city seemed to know how to deal with. When he was old ad obviously ill I called around for prices for euthenasia. When I told Broadway Vet he was suffering and needed to be put down that day, they offered me a possible openeing 3 days later and quoted me $46 bucks. I ended up going to a west seattle vet that offered me three openings to choose from THAT DAY and charged me only $14.
A.C.C.E.S. Vets were wonderful when my cat was deathly ill. Always professional, didn’t talk down to me and didn’t make me feel like they were manipulating my emotions to get more money out of me (which more and more vets are making a standard practice these days). I hope Cherri will bring that level of service and professionalism to the Hill!
But what ever you do DON’T ever get the CareCredit card at any vet. They have HUGE interest rates and vets usually get the cheapest option from them that requires you pay a few months later, not enough to save up to pay for thousands of dollars in vet bills plus interest.
This is from the Washington State Human Rights Commission’s service animal FAQ page http://hum.wa.gov/FAQ/FAQServiceAnimal.html
Q. How can I tell if an animal is really a service animal and not just a pet?
There are no legal requirements for service animals to be specially identified. Some, but not all, service animals, wear special collars and harnesses. Some, but not all, are licensed or “certified” and/or have identification papers. If you are not certain that an animal is a service animal, you may ask the person who has the animal if it is a service animal required because of a disability. A public entity cannot require any proof of a person’s disability, or identification or certification of the service animal’s status.
Thanks, “what_now.” I guess this puts to rest the fiction that it’s illegal for a store owner to ask if a pet is a service animal…they only cannot require proof, so have to take the owner’s word, and many will lie about it if asked.
So why aren’t store owners asking? Are you reading this, Broadway Market QFC managers?
Yes, the Hill needs better Veterinary care! Spent years enduring the local Hill clinics when carting sick animals across the city was not an option. Really fortunate to have found genuinely caring, intelligent, and conscientious service from Madison Park Veterinary Hospital. Shameless plug here for Dr. Teri Byrd and her considerate staff.