Grand Opening for Park Animal Hospital Under New Owners

If you trust your veterinarian to diagnose and treat Fluffy and Fido when they're ill, would you get your dog groomed there or boarded there when you're out of town, too?

That's part of the plan for husband and wife team Damian Battersby and Shelley Skopit of Wilton, new owners of Park Animal Hospital in Darien and Norwalk.


They want to provide not only traditional and alternative health care for your pet, but grooming and boarding services, too.

Alternative, non-invasive therapies will be provided at the hospital, Battersby said. "We're looking to bring in a theraputic laser," he said.

"I'm certified in veterinary acupuncture," Skopit said.

On Wednesday they celebrated their new ownership (since late July) of the two-site animal hospital with a ribbon cutting ceremony in Darien involving local officials, including state Sen. Bob Duff and Selectman John Lundeen.

So far, the three-year-old Darien location -- located next to the Shell gas station at 168 Noroton Ave., in the back -- provides veterinary care and is in the process of getting a grooming license.

"We've got a building job ahead of us," Battersby said. Skopit and Battersby already have a grooming license for the 25-year-old Norwalk location (at 17 Park St., across the street from St. Paul's Church on the Green), and they're in the process of getting a boarding license there, as well.

In Norwalk, Battersby said, "We're in the process of revamping the building, to kind of modernize it a little bit. It was built in 1979."

Nine employees work at either or both of the two locations, and so far they serve clients mostly from Darien, Norwalk, Stamford and Westport.

Battersby, a Westport native, worked in a small veterinary practice in Bedford Hills, NY for 10 years. Skopit also has a decade of experience in Westchester County, working in Yorktown and Rye, and most recently as head of emergency veterinary medicine at a veterinary hospital.

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Park Animal Hospital

DARIEN:
168 Noroton Ave.
(203) 655-7795
FAX: (203) 655-7798
Hours: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday; 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday and Saturday

NORWALK:
17 Park St.
(203) 849-7733
FAX: (203) 849-7766
Hours: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday; closed on Thursdays and Saturdays for now (but look for expanded hours, soon)