About Us
Your pets’ health and well-being are very important to us, and we take every possible measure to give your animals the care they deserve.
We Value your pets
C.C. Veterinary Hospital is a full-service animal hospital that welcomes pet patients in need of medical, surgical, dental, and wellness care. our doctors have years of experience treating serious conditions and behavioral issues. We treat your pets physically and emotionally. Beyond first-rate pet care, we make our clinic comfortable, kid-friendly, and calm, so your pet can relax in the waiting room and look forward to meeting our Columbia City veterinarian.
Our Mission
Our mission is to provide a low-stress environment for our patients, customers, and staff in order to create a positive experience and to always follow our core values of kindness, empathy, trust, flexibility, and optimism. We will also honor the history of our practice by remaining active in our community.
Our Vision
To develop a practice where patients and clients feel welcome and well cared for through our excellent veterinary care, positive attitudes, and compassion and empathy while always striving to improve our knowledge and ourselves in a safe and enriching work environment. Our focus will always be on becoming the primary experts and leaders in low-stress, fear-free pet care in Northeast Indiana.
Over 100 years of history
John W. Clark with his wife, Sarah Alice, and six-year-old son, George LeRoy, arrived in Columbia City in the fall of 1889 from Stratford, Ontario, Canada. John had owned a livery stable there and had a reputation for treating various ailments, including lameness of horses. He was known as “Doc” Clark. John’s wife had begged him to move south from the harsh winters of Canada, and their destination was to be Kentucky. Arriving in Columbia City, Mrs. Clark read in “The Columbia City Commercial” of an outbreak of smallpox in Northern Kentucky. The decision was made not to go any further south.
Living in a rental property on North Line Street, John opened a practice of animal medicine in a livery stable just east of the Baptist Church on the northeast corner of Van Buren and Walnut Streets. Three years later, he moved to the Pontius Drug Store on the north side of the Court House Square. Consultations with medications cost fifteen to fifty cents, farm calls were charged at one to two dollars. The year was 1893. The next move was to a large home with a summer kitchen building and barn on the property at 110 W. Jackson Street. The purchase of this was made possible by Mrs. Clark’s insurance money upon her death.
In 1906, John’s son, George LeRoy, graduated from the Ontario School of Veterinary Medicine in Guelph, Ontario. The school later moved to London, Ontario. Degrees in veterinary medicine were given by passing a final written exam after completing three years of classes of six months each year. Roy, as all called him, returned home to join his father in practice. At that time, the summer kitchen was converted into a pharmacy. A kennel room and a surgery room were soon added to provide pet animal and swine operations. The barn, in addition to horse stalls, had a large animal operating table. Through the years, renovations were constantly made to the hospital.
Dr. Roy, for the next forty years, practiced veterinary medicine in Whitley County. During that time, Dr. Striggle moved into South Whitley, and they were the only college-trained veterinarians practicing in the county. Toward the end of his practice life, Dr. Roy was bothered with a heart condition, and he signed one-year contracts to graduate veterinarians yearning for experience. There were four of them, including Drs. J. Hillshimer, Ben Blood, Nat Turner, and M.M. Coble. Dr. Coble stayed on in the practice, and on January 1, 1946, was joined by Dr. Roy’s nephew, Clark Waterfall. Clark Waterfall had returned from overseas duty with the U.S. Army of occupation in Germany. During their partnership, for three years in the ’50s, they had a satellite office in the McCoy Lumber Yard in Churubusco. Churubusco did not have a resident Veterinarian at that time. Farm clients also were served in southern Noble, western Kosciusko, northern Allen Counties, and as far east as Ari. The Coble / Waterfall partnership ended with Dr. Coble’s retirement in 1976. It had endured 34 years, the longest at that time, Veterinary partnership in the state.
Dr. Waterfall was a lone practitioner for two years until Dr. Richey joined the practice in 1976. After years at the downtown location, a house was purchased on State Rd. 9 North in 1987. Additions were made into a modern veterinary clinic. Dr. Waterfall retired in 1994, and Dr. Richey became the sole owner of the practice. During Dr. Waterfall’s tenure, the practice changed from 85% treatment of farm animals to 99% companion animals. In 1992 Dr. Richey added Dr. Colleen Quinn as a partner in the veterinary practice. Dr. Quinn purchased the practice in 2003 and continues to operate the hospital with the same passion and philosophies as the many great Dr.’s before.
