AFTER THE FIRE: A new pet paradise

Hospital rises from ashes with construction to replace burned building

Left, Darryl Allen, superintendent of the Paradise Pet Hospital construction project with SR Construction, looks over building plans at the hospital’s permanent location at 1060 E. Flamingo Road, Jan. 5. Above, Dr. Tiffany Paul gives Sampson a physical at the Paradise Pet Hospital’s temporary location at 3340 E. Patrick Lane, sharing space with the Animal Emergency Center. The original Paradise Pet Hospital was destroyed in a fire in March 2008, killing 16 animals. The hospital’s permanent location is set to open in March. Danielle Nadler/VIEW Left, Darryl Allen, superintendent of the Paradise Pet Hospital construction project with SR Construction, looks over building plans at the hospital’s permanent location at 1060 E. Flamingo Road, Jan. 5. Above, Dr. Tiffany Paul gives Sampson a physical at the Paradise Pet Hospital’s temporary location at 3340 E. Patrick Lane, sharing space with the Animal Emergency Center. The original Paradise Pet Hospital was destroyed in a fire in March 2008, killing 16 animals. The hospital’s permanent location is set to open in March. Danielle Nadler/VIEW Danielle Nadler/VIEWThe new Paradise Pet Hospital building at 1060 E. Flamingo Road is made up of a noncombustible wall and roof. Advertisement

A shell of a building stands tall at 1060 E. Flamingo Road as a sign of renewal and remembrance. The property will once again be home to Paradise Pet Hospital, which burned to the ground 10 months ago, killing 16 dogs and cats.

Crews with SR Construction are working toward a March 22 construction deadline, the anniversary of the fire that destroyed the pet hospital's original building.

"We're pushing, pushing, pushing, trying to get this done to help them out," Darryl Allen, superintendent of the construction project, said.

Construction on the replacement building had to wait to start until late last month because investigators continued to look for clues as to what sparked the 2008 fire. The Clark County Fire Department believes the fire was started by electrical wiring above the ceiling, where sprinklers couldn't reach, according to the department's public information officer Scott Allison.

Paradise Pet Hospital is sharing space with the Animal Emergency Center at 3340 E. Patrick Lane as its temporary location. So that its operation doesn't overlap with the emergency center's, which is open overnight and on weekends, Paradise Pet Hospital has shortened its hours -- originally 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. six days a week and 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays -- to now just 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The hospital also has temporarily stopped its boarding and grooming services due to lack of space.

Dr. Mark Dolgroff, who's been with Paradise Pet Hospital for 30 years, said it has lost customers because of less services and shortened hours.

Manager Joanne Light said the customers who lost their pets in the fire continue to do business at Paradise Pet Hospital.

"Finding your veterinarian is like finding a good pediatrician," said Light, who broke the news of the lost animals to each of the pet owners. "You never give that up."

Tracy Lawyer, who lost her cat Jaguar in the fire, agreed.

She recently brought her new kitten St. Nikki to Paradise Pet Hospital for shots.

"It wasn't their fault," Lawyer said of the fire. "I know that if anything could have been done to save those animals, it would have been done."

Light added that Pet Pros, at 3680 S. Maryland Parkway, Suite 101, offered to give those who lost their pets new animals free of charge. Several took the store up on its offer.

Paradise Pet Hospital is searching for discounted medical equipment. Insurance covered the cost to replace the building, but not the equipment. The X-ray machine alone will take about a third of the total insurance money, Light said.

"We're quite short in our coverage," Dolgroff added. "We've been looking for good quality, used equipment."

Paradise Pet Hospital will return to its regular hours and services when it moves to its permanent site. The new 5,000-square-foot hospital will have room to board 11 animals and will include a pharmacy, indoor boarding kennels with an outdoor dog run and a wing for surgery, radiology and ultrasound. The walls and roof in the new building are made of a fire-resistant material called Ecolite, which was sold to Paradise Pet Hospital by EcoWall of Las Vegas at a discounted price.

"We want to give our customers and staff the assurance that we're stepping up to make sure nothing like this happens again," Dolgroff said.

Contact Southeast and Southwest View reporter Danielle Nadler at dnadler@viewnews.com or 224-5524.