PARADISE PET HOSPITAL: Ready to rebuild

Construction under way nearly a year after fire destroyed original facility

Top, Paradise Pet Hospital veterinarian Tiffany Paul gives Sampson a physical at the pet hospital’s temporary location at 3340 E. Patrick Lane, Jan. 5. The facility currently is sharing space with the Animal Emergency Center while a new facility, shown right, is being built at 1060 E. Flamingo Road. The original Paradise Pet Hospital was destroyed in a fire in March 2008. The permanent location is set to open in March with a noncombustible roof and walls.Photos by Danielle Nadler/View Photos by Danielle Nadler/ViewTop, Linda LeVasseur, a customer at Paradise Pet Hospital for four years, brought in Cheech after he scratched his eye, Jan. 5. LeVasseur said she’ll always be a loyal customer. The hospital currently is operating out of a temporary location at 3340 E. Patrick Lane, sharing space with Animal Emergency Center. Bottom, Darryl Allen, superintendent of the Paradise Pet Hospital construction project for SR Construction, looks over building plans at the hospital’s permanent location at 1060 E. Flamingo Road. Top, Paradise Pet Hospital veterinarian Tiffany Paul gives Sampson a physical at the pet hospital’s temporary location at 3340 E. Patrick Lane, Jan. 5. The facility currently is sharing space with the Animal Emergency Center while a new facility, shown right, is being built at 1060 E. Flamingo Road. The original Paradise Pet Hospital was destroyed in a fire in March 2008. The permanent location is set to open in March with a noncombustible roof and walls.Photos by Danielle Nadler/View Advertisement

A shell of a building stands tall at 1060 E. Flamingo Road as a sign of renewal and remembrance. The property once again will 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.

For more information, visit www.paradisepethospital.com.

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