The city of Cleveland has opened its first Black-woman-owned animal hospital with the Cleveland Veterinary Clinic. Spearheaded by Dr. Venaya Jones, the veterinary clinic is also the first to open in the city’s Fairfax neighborhood.
Dr. Jones told Cleveland’s ABC5 News that owning the clinic is a dream she’s harbored since childhood, saying, “It started out with me being a little girl. Ever since I can remember I’ve always been an animal lover.”
As Dr. Jones applied for and began attending vet school, she couldn’t help noticing the lack of Black veterinary science students. As she began to build her career as a veterinarian, she always saved so that she could one day own her own clinic.
The hard work paid off and now Dr. Jones holds the distinction of being the first Black woman to own a veterinary clinic in the entire city. While a lot of people advised her to look outside of Cleveland, she remained committed to bringing this clinic into the community that raised her.
She told ABC5 that, “I feel like it’s a great opportunity here in Cleveland, especially there being no other vet hospitals here. There are tons of people with pets, we’re in the health tech corridor. I mean, this is where quality medicine is discovered and done, and I want to be a part of that.”
Councilman Blaine Griffin was one of Dr. Jones’ biggest supporters and is confident that the clinic will bring growth to the Fairfax area.
“To have an African American woman to be able to come into a majority-minority community and a community where people will look at her and have a sense of trust, a community where people don’t feel like they have to go all the way out to the suburbs to get quality care for their pets. So it speaks volumes,” Griffin said.
Dr. Jones is hopeful that her clinic will make a difference beyond the field of veterinary sciences.
“I think it will let other minorities know that they can achieve the same goals that I have,” Jones said.
Cleveland Veterinary Clinic opened this week and is located at 8069 Euclid Ave. in the Shops at Church Street strip mall.