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Vets fret as private equity snaps up clinics, pet care companies

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — About a year ago, veterinarian Melissa Ezell started noticing subtle changes at the midsized animal clinic in Huntsville, Alabama, where she works. She said she and other vets were feeling pressure from management to make a certain amount of money from every appointment. If a pet owner wasn’t going to spend enough, […]

Private equity’s foray into the human health care industry in recent years has drawn public outrage and legislative scrutiny as firms have been blamed for increasing prices, slashing services and shuttering hospitals to maximize shareholder profits. “The thought of having the only 24-hour emergency pet care center in our entire metro area close was really scary,” said Rachel Barnhart, a Democratic member of the Monroe County Legislature in New York who has taken her dogs to the clinic. The FTC required the firm to divest some of its vet clinics in California, Colorado, Texas, Virginia and Washington, D.C., as a condition of approving its multibillion-dollar purchases of two other multistate veterinary care chains.

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