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Page 22 PROGRESS Wednesday April 830 pets each month visit the Animal Clinic Working In the office of McCarthy and Associates Pat McCarthy starts setting up for business on the computer in his Mr McCar thy says he can save businesses thousands of dollars on their phone bill by simply cutting a couple of unused phone lines Herald photo McCarthy will help keep those phone bills down A telecommunications business that has set out its goals to help Halton Hills businesses will be opening on Tuesday It is a consulting business form ed by Pat McCarthy and will work out of a house at the corner of Main Street and Park Avenue in Georgetown The entire idea of the new business called McCarthy and Associates is to save other businesses money on their telecommunication system Mr McCarthy said He said the savings can be quite dramatic A cent per minute phone call can cost cents per minute if you know what to look for he said The approximate cost for a business phone line is If a large company has three or four phone lines it does not use it is throwing money away Mr Mc Carthy said The phone bill is typically the second largest cost for a business he said Mr McCarthy added Canadian businesses generally pay more for telecom than their American counterparts Mr McCarthy and his two associates will for a price around 500 come into a business and make a telephone study that can reduce a company s phone bill by per cent to 50 per cent every year hesaid A business can often save thousands of dollars by simply cancelling unnecessary telephone lines Mr McCarthy said We determine our clients real telephone needs we will mend which telephone services will provide the most cost effective and reliable long distance choice and above all are dent he said McCarthy and Associates will never receive any income from equipment suppliers or telephone carriers for work performed on behalf of the firm s clients he said By DIAHANN NADEAU Herald Special For many pet owners in Ross and hi partner and wife Dr Nancy Hill are familiar faces How often Barney or Fluffy eaten the wrong thing developed mysterious symptoms or needed shots Rather frequently It seems the Georgetown Animal Clinic one of three vet clinics in town sees an of 830 pets a month Thats a lot of cats and dogs Dr Pezzack began working at the clinic in 1982 Hull in 83 They were married in and bought the practice a year later They are joined by three other doc tors Norah Menzies who started in Liz Thurston and Dr Hilary Mellor who came on board in 1987 All five doctors are graduates of which is not surprising it s the only veterinary school in Ontario and one of the very few in the country Originally from Toronto Dr came lo know Halton through acquaintance with one of the vets who worked at the clinic The Animal Clinic has been operating at its present location on Mountainview Road since 1970 but it dates back some years before hat He liked the look of Georgetown and decided to settle here after practicing in Owen Sound and Windsor It has a nice small town at the people you see in the store are the ones you see in your office Georgetown combined the things I wanted a somewhat rural setting a nice atmosphere and it was close enough to Toronto Like many business owners and residents Dr has mixed feelings about Georgetown s growth I d like to see some growth but I want it to like Georgetown not become another Brampton want to be able to drive out of town In five minutes Yet it would be nice to grow hire more veterinarians The development south of Hungry Hollow on has already become a source of new clients The Animal Clinic is the closest to the development and a natural choice for pet owners Franchises are assuming there will be more growth If there is more growth we increase the space here We could use it now The clinic would convert some of the parking space beside the building into another two examin ing rooms a radiology room and a larger space for the animals The budding was designed specifically as a veterinarian s clinic in 1970 Dr Pezzack who is the business manager for the practice has plans to computerize the clinic in the coming year New equipment is also in the works as there are improvements and refinements go ing on the field However the doctors intend to continue sending a lot of the lab work to Toronto They used to do in house but found it cheaper to send it to the city They do some tests in the clinic but most blood chemistries are done elsewhere We are in a unique setting in Georgetown being between Toronto and Guelph we can chose the best and most economical path Pezzack The business has been growing steadily averaging a to 10 per cent growth rate in the past few years There s a seasonal rhythm to a veterinary practice winter is quieter Pets are not outside as much in the winter so there are fewer cuts accidents pests ticks and fleas and viruses are dead not as easy to pick up Warm weather changes everything and often peo ple adopt the new family pet then especially dogs training outside is simpler in spring The newest development in veterinary medicine is pet in surance Two insurance plans are now available to pet owners the Pet Plan Insurance andPetsure Dr feels this is a wor thwhile investment Hie com panies started up in the last six months and think its a good idea Not a lot of people are doing it yet and its not inexpensive but it does eliminate major worry when things do happen It makes for bet ter working conditions for vets if your dog is hit by a car then we re not worrying about costs youre looking at shock rays specialists perhaps such as an or thopedic surgeon Accidents are expensive and for to a month you can in sure your pets against a lot of unexpected problems including a reward if your animal is stolen and kennel costs if you get sick It s too soon to say which of the plans is better the Society of Veterinarians is currently doing a comparison study At this point no one knows how quickly the com pames respond to claims Breeders however are most likely to prefer Pet Plan as they offer ad ditional coverage How will the GST affect the average pet owner Adversely it seems That 7 per cent increase is going on everything The veterinary association is trying to get it eliminated but it s been no use They want us to pay on animal drugs but not for human prescrip tions Dr points out the benefits to human health of owning pets which he views as another reason not to throw the GST on veterinary medicine Pets are good for your health they re a member of the family GALLERYAND FRAMING CENTRE Time Limited Edition Print Full House Fox Family by Carl Brenders is a qualify full service gallery featuring Limited Edition Prml including many SOLD OUT editions Still available at issue prices Decorator and Poster Prints Rare Etchings and Antique Print Restorations Museum Quality Custom Framing Affordable Prices In Store EDITIONS Include liSIER Sum ISAAC BRENDERS la Co no I BRACK I FREDERICK PARKER Owl 348 Guelph St Unit 5 Next BELL the Knolcresl Centre Gallery and Framing Centre 8777491 Georgetown