Courtesy Paul Post
By Paul Post
Everything about the new Bay Road Animal Hospital was designed with comfort in mind, for both pets and owners.
Widened hallways, large treatment area windows, heated kennel room floors and a sunken scale that animals simply step on without having to be lifted when first entering the building are just some of its many unique features.
Trent Hunnicutt, DVM, recently held a grand opening for the practice, the former home of Convenient Medical, at 319 Bay Road near the intersection of Quaker Road, in Queensbury.
“We basically blew the building out to four walls and redid everything to what’s needed for a veterinary hospital instead of a medical clinic,” he said.
A South Carolina native, Hunnicutt grew up on a hobby farm surrounded by all types of animals large and small, and knew he always wanted to have a practice of his own someday. He did undergraduate work at Clemson University before going to Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine at Saint Kitts in the Caribbean for most of his classroom instruction; finishing up with clinical rotations at Auburn University in Alabama.
Hunnicutt, 41, came to the Glens Falls area 10 years ago so that he and his wife, Christina, could be closer to her family.
Previous visits were in summer, giving Hunnicutt a chance to do an externship for Battenkill Veterinary, working with dairy cows. His first North Country winter was quite a shock.
“I thought, ‘Holy cow I can’t believe this!’ ” he said.
His first permanent positions locally were with Adirondack Animal Hospital and Greenfield Animal Hospital. Then he worked nights for Northway Animal Emergency Clinic in Moreau, while pursuing plans during the daytime to open his own practice on Bay Road.
“Working with a realtor, I asked if there was anything out there that would fit these parameters of square footage, parking and being close to home,” Hunnicutt said.
The former Convenient Medical building checked every box.
He bought the property for $600,000 and has invested about $1.2 million to make everything pet and people friendly, made possible with a small business loan from Live Oak Bank in Wilmington, N.C. “A representative flew up in the winter of 2023 to see the property,” Hunnicutt said. “We met at Bogey’s restaurant. He said, ‘Let’s go see the place,’ walked through and liked it.”
From there, Hunnicutt contacted Planimal, a Montreal architectural firm that specializes in designing small and start-up veterinary clinics. Hunnicutt incorporated the best features from each of the practices he had worked at before.
“I was probably a pain their side, showing up bothering them,” he joked. “They knew the unique concepts about what helps with animal flow and decreasing stress for the pet.”
Fort Edward-based V&H Construction was the contractor.
The sunken digital scale, in the lobby floor, gives a quick accurate reading that reduces animal stress by eliminating extra handling. Heated kennel floors help keep canines warm and calm.
Hunnicutt specializes in cats and dogs, but also sees small animals such as rabbits, gerbils and ferrets, although mostly for husbandry-type issues rather than illness.
In addition to himself, the clinic has created six full-time jobs including that of Practice Manager Taylor McLarty.
Bay Road Animal Hospital is currently open Monday to Friday.
“The goal is to have weekend hours once we have the clientele to support the payroll,” Hunnicutt said. “We as veterinarians got into this to help animals. We take it hard if we can’t do that.”
For hours and information go to: www.bayroadvet.com.