Family-owned animal hospital to open in West Orange

West Orange pet owners soon will have a new place to take their four-legged friends for a check-up.

Oakes Animal Hospital is opening up early this summer at 11101 Roberson Road, Winter Garden.

The animal hospital will be owned and operated by the husband-and-wife team of T.J. and Lisa Oakes. Lisa will work the reception desk, and T.J. will be the in-house veterinarian.

“We purchased this property December of 2016,” Lisa Oakes said. “I’ve been helping him do all the work to get this open … (with) permitting and construction and hold-ups, but we’re finally getting there.”

“It’s been quite an undertaking, but we’re excited and can’t wait to finally open,” T.J. Oakes said. “This is something we’ve been wanting to do for a number years, and it’s been a year in the making. It’s starting to come together, so it’s getting very exciting.”

T.J. Oakes currently works at Lake Veterinary Clinic in Mount Dora and has about seven years of veterinary experience.

“… We just want a hometown feel. … We definitely want that personal touch.”

— T.J. Oakes

“Where I’m working now is actually a high-volume, so I’ve gotten quite a bit of experience in a short amount of time,” T.J. Oakes said. “I love it up there. I’m just ready to do my own thing.”

Oakes Animal Hospital will offer general medicine and surgical services once they open. Eventually, the couple hopes to open a separate boarding facility on-site for long-term pet boarding. The animal hospital sits on about two acres, so there’s plenty of room to build the boarding facility, T.J. Oakes said.

“We’re going to open a boarding facility next on-site, but that’s going to be further down the road,” T.J. Oakes said. “We’re excited about the size of this property.”

This would not be the first time that the property will be used for animals. It once was used to board horses, and the Oakes plan on keeping the rustic charm of the property’s past.

“The property has been an equine boarding facility for a long time,” T.J. Oakes said. “We’re trying to keep it the same farmhouse (look); rustic with the décor. We just want a hometown feel. … We definitely want that personal touch.”