BRADENTON
When Pete Crestinzio’s Saint Bernard collapsed in the backyard from heart problems, he quickly searched online for the nearest emergency vet service.
In a short time, two women in a Vet Care Express van appeared, loaded the 130-pound Brutus into the van and rushed him to the nearest emergency veterinarian.
Although the 9-year-old — a senior citizen in dog years — died at the hospital, Crestinzio said he was grateful for Vet Care Express’ assistance.
“What impressed me is that they were very professional, yet compassionate,” he said. “It was very emotional and they made it a lot easier to handle.”
Cheryl Brady, owner of Vet Care Express, said she founded the Bradenton business in November because there was a big need for emergency transportation for sick and injured animals.
After helping a friend who had run over a dog, Brady began to wonder what she would have done if the animal had survived and needed emergency care. She remembered a business plan she’d written in a women’s studies course in college for an emergency veterinarian transport.
“Literally light bulbs started going off,” Brady said.
In late 2009, she left her job, purchased a roomy, white van branded with Vet Care Express logos and emergency supplies such as a stretcher and transport cages.
Brady has transported about 50 patients in both emergency and non-emergency situations since she began taking patients in November. She also provides lessons on cat and dog CPR.
“I really think this is what I’m supposed to be doing,” she said. “It’s really been rewarding.”
One particularly rewarding experience came when Brady responded to a call from Wayne Brown Jr.
Brown’s car had broken down when he was trying to get his dog Scooby, who had just been in a dog fight, to emergency care.
When Brown called the emergency vet, they told him they couldn’t help him get Scooby to the center, but they did provide him the number to Vet Care Express.
“We were really instrumental in saving Scooby’s life,” Brady said.
The business charges $30 for a non-emergency call and $45 for an emergency call. But Brady said her first concern is the animals and she doesn’t want cost to prevent someone from using her service.
“My goal is to sustain this service, not go out and buy a 54-foot yacht,” she said.
With 40,000 registered pets in Manatee County and 60,000 registered pets in Sarasota County, one in three will have an emergency this year. This is a huge need and should provide more than enough business to keep her going, Brady said.
The only problem?
“People don’t know it exists,” she said, noting that she has spoken to many veterinarians in the area and is beginning to receive referral business from them.
One of those vets, Ashley Kanzler of Sarasota Veterinary Emergency Hospital, has high praise for Vet Care Express and has recommended it on several occasions to in-need pet owners.
The hospital runs on a skeleton crew of about three people during night shifts and can’t spare a staffer to retrieve pets who need critical care, Kanzler said. This has previously been an obstacle for pet owners who can’t transport the animal themselves, but Kanzler finds that Brady fills this previously empty role perfectly.
“She handles her business very well which allows us to work well together,” Kanzler said, pointing out that Brady focuses on transport and keeping the animal alive with CPR and oxygen while leaving the veterinarian medicine to licensed practitioners.
