Deason Animal Hospital gets green light for expansion

Deason Animal Hospital in Floresville is planning to expand its mixed-animal veterinary practice to include a new office that will be located next to the existing facility at 1712 D St. The new office will serve as additional office space, and will add a surgical room, recovery room, and laboratory area. DEVAN SUTTON/Wilson County News

Horses, and pigs, and cats — oh, my!

Deason Animal Hospital in Floresville is preparing to expand its facility.

Dr. Wayne Deason, owner of the Deason Animal Hospital, received approval from the Floresville Planning & Zoning Committee Jan. 5 for the necessary commercial rezoning of his property located at the corner of D and Eighth streets, adjacent to the existing facility.

Deason Animal Hospital — located at the corner of D Street and 10th Street (U.S. 181), at 1712 D St. — is a mixedanimal practice that treats small domestic animals such as cats and dogs, and large animals, including horses, cattle, and pigs, Deason explained.

The neighboring property, currently a residential building owned by Deason’s, located at 1602 D Street, used to serve as housing for veterinary externship students from around the globe. In recent years, the program has been put on pause, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The rezoning of this property will allow Deason to construct an additional building near the animal hospital’s existing pens and stalls, that would extend partially behind the externship house, he said.

The veterinary hospital is not just utilized by locals. Folks from as far as Austin and Corpus Christi come to Floresville for a variety of veterinary-related services, such as preventative care, dental care, vaccinations, diagnostic testing, surgical needs, and emergencies.

The new building — that will be approximately 2,500 square feet — will mainly serve as office space, Deason said. It will also include a surgical room, a recovery room, and a laboratory area.

Animals will not be staying overnight in the new building, Deason assured, addressing concerns from neighbors worried about noise and traffic from the business expansion.

Other plans for the property include installing a fence along the perimeter of Eighth Street and creating more parking spaces for employees. There will be no new entrances to the facility, he advised.

“We need to do this to provide better service to the clients we have and the people of Floresville,” Deason said. “Animals get sick and need care seven days a week.”

The community’s needs for the animal hospital’s services have outgrown the capabilities of the small facility, he admitted.

Deason Animal Hospital has been steadily growing over the past three decades. It currently runs with a staff of 31. Deason foresees adding 20 more positions with the expansion.

Final approval for the rezoning is still needed by the Floresville City Council, which is set to review the proposal Jan. 13 during the regular council meeting.