Animal hospital deals with damage after truck crashed into clinic

DENVER — Brentwood Animal Hospital is still sifting through concrete, bricks and dust at its building off Federal Boulevard and Bates Avenue.

Friday night, owner Sandra Foushee said she received a call from Denver Police saying a truck had driven through her clinic. 

“Our first concern was our clinic cats because who knows where they could have been,” Foushee said.

Foushee said that upon her arrival, all three of the clinic’s cats were accounted for, and there were no injuries.

“I’m ever so thankful that this didn’t happen during the daytime because if it had, myself, the doctor, and whoever else was in there would have died,” Foushee said. “There’s just no way anyone could have survived that.”

Foushee explained that the truck came through and destroyed the main exam room, where 90% of patients are serviced.

“Bricks, concrete and the windows are smashed out,” Foushee said. “The cupboards are broken.”

Foushee said in the days following the accident, she had to recover patient files under rubble and a scale to continue work. She said she was approved by the city to keep operating because the building is still considered structurally sound despite the damages.

She was most concerned with the things that couldn’t be replaced in the main exam room, like artwork and photos from clients.

“One of those is this little ark,” Foushee said, pointing to a nearby shelf. “He was sitting in the window that was hit. Got bent. That’s it. Just a little bend. We can fix it.”

Foushee said, from the incident, she’s felt support from the community come over her, her staff and her business in ways she didn’t know were possible.

These acts of kindness moved her to tears.

“Now I feel like they’re even more a part of our family than they were before,” Foushee said. “The people that came to help.”

She said volunteers have offered their time and supplies to clean the space. Foushee said everyone’s efforts from over the weekend allowed her to resume surgeries on Tuesday.

“Yesterday, we spent the whole day cleaning and wiping down everything in surgery and we were able to successfully do our surgery today,” Foushee said.

Still, she said she’s lost a few customers due to the accident. Since Friday night, several people have canceled, Foushee said. 

She knows she won’t be able to serve as many clients as she normally does, being one exam room down. Foushee said she had plans to bring in a second veterinary doctor next month, but now, she doesn’t know where she’ll place the new vet.

She said, between insurance claims, permits and rebuilding, it could take six months to re-open the exam room.

“It was a lot of work so far, and we got a lot of work to go,” Foushee said. “A lot of work to go.”

Denver Police said the driver in the accident was cited for careless driving and driving without a license or insurance.

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