Just outside of central Charlotte on Albemarle Road sits a large, new, brick and wood, one-story building, next to a grocery store and other businesses. It’s been mistaken for a restaurant and lounge, but inside, it’s quickly obvious just what the Ark business is all about.
Dogs of all sizes and breeds can be heard barking loudly in cages in various rooms of the Ark Veterinary Services hospital. It opened last December and treats exotic pets and animals of all sizes, including cows, horses, emus and pigs. Veterinarians use cold laser and other cutting-edge equipment in surgeries and procedures.
Ark Veterinary Services is one of few African-American-owned veterinary hospitals in North Carolina, or nationwide. Nationally, only 1.2% of veterinarians are Black. And 75% of them are graduates of Tuskegee University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, a historically Black university in Alabama.
The three owners of the Ark all graduated from Tuskegee's veterinarian school. Co-owner Dr. Kevin Scruggs says they plan to mentor other people of color who are interested in becoming a veterinarian through internships and visiting schools with their mobile vet clinic. Scruggs says the mentors he had, also Tuskegee grads, were instrumental in him being where he is today, which he says was not always easy. In an interview with WFAE's Gwendolyn Glenn, Scruggs talks about the challenges they faced in securing a loan to build the hospital, something he attributes to their race.
Many of the animals at the Ark are rescue animals that need medical attention before being put up for adoption.
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