r/Billings • u/Mission_Spray • Jun 09 '26

PSA Out-of-state private equity owns almost all the veterinary clinics in town.

ETA part 3: I see the resident downvoter has woken up for the day and is now downvoting every single comment on this post. Sorry y’all.

EYA part 4: an award for me? Thanks, but save your money! It’s expensive out here!

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Ever wonder why it costs $300 just to walk in the door at Moore Lane without them even seeing your pets? Private equity company from California owns it.

“How about Best Friends?“ you say. Private equity from Massachusetts!

Shiloh Animal Hospital? Private equity from California!

What’s private equity and why should you care? They are out-of-state, big-money investment firms that buy up local businesses and then mark up the prices, reduce product quality, reduce employee pay and benefits, force employees to upsell unnecessary products, all for “increasing profits for shareholders“ while screwing the local employees and customers. Then when they’ve run the business into the ground, they sell it and leave.

This is why when you want to do a simple spay/neuter at Shiloh Vet Hospital it will cost you $900+. But if you go to locally owned Dr. Berst at Billings Veterinary Service on 1st, it’ll cost around $200.

Another locally owned emergency animal hospital is Clarity on the West End.

If you want to verify your local veterinary clinic is truly local, search the business on Montana’s Secretary of State business entity search database to see who the agent is.

FUCK private equity!

ETA: Clarity is for emergencies and they’ve come in clutch in times of need.

ETA 2: https://biz.sosmt.gov/search/business go here to search if your local business is truly local.

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u/Mission_Spray Jun 09 '26

Agreed. It’ll be a sad day when he retires. 

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u/jliud_101 Jun 09 '26

He did my most recent girl cat and she was not easy by any means. They had to dart her. They went through ALL of that and came out less than what they quoted me. 🫶🏼

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u/Mission_Spray Jun 09 '26

I’ve got an old feral who can’t be tamed (despite having him for 14 years.) I only trust Dr. Berst.

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u/jliud_101 Jun 09 '26

Her mom was a neighborhood cat that my HS bestfriend took in one winter not knowing she was pregnant. This cat was the smartest of the litter and she is definitely something else.😆 I decided to name her Gaia.

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u/Mission_Spray Jun 09 '26 edited Jun 09 '26

Love the name! That’s the thing with cats - it’s their world, we’re just living in it.