D.C. practices predict little change with new president

Washington

-- The nation's capital is a notoriously transient city, but many veterinarians in the area don't expect the change in presidential administrations to have much effect on their businesses.

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"I would say it's break even," says Belle Tadiv, a practice administrator for 23 years at the Cherrydale Veterinary Clinic in Arlington, Va.

People don't always leave the city when their jobs change with political seasons, says Dr. Marcus Brown of the Capital Cat Clinic in Arlington. Many stay on in the area, maybe moving to a job at a think tank or government-related business.

"Washington is pretty transient, but a lot of people stay," Brown says, adding he expects more new clients than a loss at his 3,000-patient practice. "D.C. is very dynamic for creating new jobs, and there's more new business than any loss."

Many clients at Arlington's Ballston Animal Hospital work in the military, so the practice is used to seeing some move overseas or leave the area. But a new presidential administration usually means more people coming and going. Josie Schiazone, practice administrator at Ballston, says she thinks Barack Obama's move into the White House will spur more demographic changes than usual, after eight years of Republican rule.

"Business changes a lot every year. I don't know if I can speak to it being worse; I think business is going to go up," Shaizone says.

Perhaps the greatest change for veterinary practices, says Tadiv, who has worked in the Washington area through several administrations, is the different kinds of people new administrations bring with them.

"People move out, new people come in. My observation is that it's even, but there's a different set of personalities you have to deal with," she says.

None of several practices contacted reported an unusual number of clients planning to move or transfer their pets to other clinics.