Rebuild After Fire: Dr. Sara's Vet Clinic

Our website Hi, my name is Dr. Sara Fletcher. I am a 2003 graduate of NC State College of Veterinary Medicine. In 2018, I purchased a mobile veterinary hospital called Greensboro Mobile Veterinary Housecalls.

In 2021, when the business was getting off the ground, I walked outside to see my technician and my client inside the truck, and it was covered in smoke. I quickly got them out, grabbed our fire extinguisher, and went to the source of the smoke. It was coming from the brand new generator I had just spent $10,000 replacing. We called the fire department as it was 50 gallons of gas, oxygen tanks, and a block and a half from an elementary school.

I had insurance through the AVMA, and my original policy stated that in the event of a total loss, there would be no deductible, and the deal (the reason we went with the AVMA insurance) was cost of new replacement provided. Over the next several weeks, they broke down my policy into six different policies and began nickel-and-diming me for every cent. I did what any other single parent would do: I packed up trash bags full of heartworm and flea prevention and kept on trying to see appointments, trusting my insurance company would be true to their word. The fire happened in August, and they did not even determine the source of the fire or establish that it was in no way my fault until January.

After a year and a half and $25,000 spent on attorney's fees, their original offer of $14,000 went up to $60,000. Cost of new replacement is $300,000. The week after the fire, I got on the waitlist at Laboit, the company that makes these custom medical facilities. However, I learned that my new truck would be two years in the making due to demand and supply. I pulled myself up by my bootstraps, took out a personal loan, and purchased a temporary truck. This truck had been completely stripped of all equipment that the current owners had taken inside of their brick-and-mortar practice for use. There were no surgery lights, surgery table, anesthesia, dental equipment, dental x-ray, full body x-ray, ultrasound, not even air conditioning. So, I paid $75,000 for the husk of a hospital and another $45,000 to fill it with equipment. The truck got us by for the next two years until my new truck was ready.

I'm a single parent, and I don't receive financial support from anyone. Both my daughter and I are on the autism spectrum. What I really want is for The Hartford to come true to their promises and provide cost of new replacement, but I know that's never gonna happen. With all of the work I do here in the community, pro bono and for profit, I'm living paycheck to paycheck, and I still owe money for the first truck in the amount of $25,000. I was able to sell the temporary truck to a lovely couple in Kansas City last summer.

What I'm asking for is an angel donor or donors. I believe in working hard at work that's worth doing.