About Us
All Dogs & Cats In Our Community Deserve Veterinary Care.
Urban Animal’s story started with the goal of making veterinary care accessible for all. We believe without a change in who really owns our industry, accessibility will disappear. As Urban Animal continues to serve the dogs and cats of our community, we are building a workplace free from profiteers.
Our History.
In 2012, Urban Animal pioneered a model of option-based veterinary care with a focus on accessibility. Our team continues to deliver medicine in a smart and sensible manner with candid conversations and zero upsell.
A lot has changed since we opened our doors. In the last decade, the veterinary industry has experienced a rapid corporatization and consolidation by BigVet. These actions have detrimental impacts to our profession, the cost of care, and the veterinary professionals doing the work. We realize without disrupting this status quo, accessibility will disappear. Urban Animal built the largest veterinary worker cooperative to change the face of the industry.
Motives matter and Urban Animal wants to spread the word about those changes and who really owns the veterinary industry. Freakanomics did an informative two-part episode on how private equity has infiltrated our industry.
Do you know who owns Urban Animal? The veterinary professionals who work at Urban Animal and not BigVet.
Creating Worker Owners with Urban Animal Cooperative.
We believe those of us that care enough to do the work should be in the driver’s seat as to how care is delivered. Our growing worker cooperative is an alternative to corporatization and consolidation by BigVet. When the people doing the work and providing the care own their jobs—everyone wins.
Learn more about Urban Animal Cooperative from these interviews & articles
Seattle Times: If a co-op works for REI and groceries, why not veterinary care?
Veterinary Advantage: Building Something Together: Vet Clinic Employee Ownership
Seattle Met: Seattle Is Getting Its First Vet Co-Op
DVM 360: Seattle’s Urban Animal debuts veterinary worker cooperative
Seattle Refined: Seattle’s Urban Animal redefines pet care with worker co-op
Let’s be cooperative.
“An autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspiration through a jointly owned and democratically-controlled enterprise.” — Defined by International Cooperative Alliance
We’ve built a worker cooperative where our members are Worker Owners. This allows for the people who do the work to determine what their jobs look like.
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