Drs. Anna and Alan Sparling, veterinarians in Chehalis for the past 30 years, talk about their upcoming retirement on Wednesday afternoon in the waiting room of their quaint veterinarian clinic in Chehalis.
Drs. Anna and Alan Sparling, veterinarians in Chehalis for the past 30 years, pose for a portrait on Wednesday afternoon in the waiting room of their quaint veterinarian clinic in Chehalis.
Dr. Alan Sparling helps a customer on Wednesday afternoon in the waiting room of their quaint veterinarian clinic in Chehalis. Sparling, and his wife, Anna, have run an old-school veterinarian clinic in Chehalis for the past 30 years. They still don't have a credit card machine and just recently got an email address for the clinic.
Sparling Veterinary Clinic looks much like it did in 1978, and that’s just fine with its owners.
Chairs, equipment and decor from a generation past greet customers who walk into the north Chehalis office, evoking memories of a simpler, calmer time. A wood stove sits in the corner, dutifully heating up the building as it has for years.
Alan and Anna Sparling have always favored paper over electronics, whether it be the records they manually keep on each animal they treat or the currency used at their clinic in a green house sometimes overlooked by its surroundings on National Avenue.
“We’re kind of the ‘odd bird’ of all the veterinary practices out there,” Alan Sparling said. “You can’t go many places and find one like us around.”
The Sparlings like it that way, but it won’t be so for much longer. They finally caved and, although the clinic doesn’t have a computer in sight, registered an email address to open up another avenue for their patients to get in touch.
The time has come to somewhat embrace the technological age, but only out of necessity due to another time that has made its presence known: the husband-and-wife duo, a rarity in the field of veterinary practice, are retiring in May after 37 years of service to Lewis County.
Alan and Anna met in veterinary school at the University of Illinois, then decided to make the trek west to Washington after determining they wanted to live somewhere in the Northwest. Anna’s Latvian ancestry played an integral role as the newlyweds were put in touch with Dr. Adolfs Alksnis, who had owned the clinic for at least two decades prior.
“We came over here and we just took a look around and said, ‘We like it, we like it,’” Anna said. “We didn’t really look into much else except just how it looked.”
The two bought the practice and even lived next door for a time before moving south of town.
But the clinic they moved into has stayed, with the two staunchly sticking to the way they’ve performed business for years, preferring a more holistic and tried-and-true on-site diagnosis approach.
In fact, the couple, both 62, say the things that have changed the most are what surround the office.
“The street out there used to be really quiet. Now you just hear cars and trains constantly — it’s become much busier,” Alan noted.
The Sparlings can’t help but laugh when recalling two particular situations involving quirky animals: an opossum named Bert was brought in by its owner with a problem in its rear end, and once someone brought in a seagull after sneaking it onto the bus in a plastic bag, no less.
And the Sparlings worked on both of them.
“I don’t think I would ever touch a possum any other time, that’s for sure,” Anna laughed. “You know, we did have our fair share of normal animals too.”
More than their fair share, in fact, were part of the Sparling extended family. Alan recalled several customers who had become good friends, comfortable with not only bringing their pets to the clinic for treatment and checkups, but simply to come around and visit.
“We have made so many good friends here. We can really say that Chehalis has been great to us,” Alan said. “We’ve loved it here.”
No grand plans await the Sparlings in retirement; however, the couple plan to take a series of short trips to visit friends, relatives and some music festivals. Music has become an increasingly-enjoyed part of the pair’s life, with Alan playing and fixing guitars and Anna becoming well-rounded in picking the banjo.
“We have a lot going on here too. We plant, we grow bees, we garden, things like that,” Alan said. “We’re staying busy.”
The clinic has already begun drawing down its hours in preparation for the change, in effect sunsetting itself. The clinic is open from 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Wednesday through May 13.
The Sparlings are trying to prepare their customers for the change by having them pick up their pets’ records — anyone needing to still do so should call (360) 748-8161 or email sparlingvetclinic@gmail.com — and prepare for a big change in procedures and vet medicine in general, as most other area veterinarians have embraced technology and modern medicine to their advantage.
“It’s going to be a hardship on a lot of our clients who have only known the way we do things, and that’s the sad part of it,” Anna said.
“But we get along great with all the other vets in town, and our philosophy is that we will refer (our people) to anybody they so choose.”
Alan and Anna are well-prepared to close the clinic and retire, and it seems the people they serve are the ones trying more to come to terms with it, Alan said.
“There are so many clients that don’t want to admit we’re quitting,” Alan said with a chuckle. “It would be a lot different if we had to retire due to illness.”
