SUN PRAIRIE, Wis. — Two Wisconsin veterinarians are building what they believe to be the nation’s first drive-through veterinary clinic.

Marty Greer and her husband David Griffiths have been practicing veterinarians for almost 40 years. They’ve spent the last six to seven years planning a drive-through animal wellness clinic.

“It’s exciting and at the same time, it’s nerve-wracking,” Greer said. “You just have to have the guts to say when you're in your 60s that you're going to drop another bunch of money and go for it,” she laughed.

Veterinary visits can be stressful for animals. “It's been obvious to me for my whole career that bringing dogs and cats, dogs in particular, into a facility where they have to cross paths with other dogs, and sit in a room, and then sit in another room, and then be tossed around … it’s just really been difficult psychologically for those dogs,” Greer said.

But think about a dog in a car, and just about everyone can imagine their tongues flapping in the wind as they hang their head out the window. “They love being in their own vehicle,” Greer said. “Most dogs think that driving around in the car is really cool.”

The goal is to allow people to drive into a garage bay, put their car in park, and start their visit.

“They may have their veterinary care in the back of their vehicle if they drive a van or an SUV, they may have the veterinary care in the garage bay where we were have exam tables set up, or there's adjoining exam rooms next to the garage bay,” Greer said.

“If you’re 80 years old, and you have a 90-pound Labrador, and it's snowing, you don't want to be drugged through this ice behind your dog,” Greer said. “If you've got … your kids on your way to soccer, you don't have to unload everybody and reload everybody.”

Each exam room in the garage bays will have a window, so someone can choose to go with their pet or stay in their car, but still watch what’s happening in the other spot.

“It’s just a model that I think is going to be convenient across all demographics,” Greer said.

Greer said some veterinarians are over-building their facilities, making the cost to own a practice more expensive. That also means more time on their feet for staff, who end up covering every corner of a large building by the end of the day.

“If you look at the world through the eyes of the dog, and the pet owner, and even your staff, you need to listen to what makes it work for them,” Greer said.

Some veterinarians have switched to drop-off or drive-through services temporarily. While their drive-through clinic has been in the works for years, the concept could be more popular during and after the pandemic.

Their plan is patented, and Greer would like to see more veterinarians adopt it.

“I would like to see this become a model franchise for other veterinary clinics to help their clients, and to help the veterinarians themselves to be able to provide wellness services and a more convenient method,” she said.

The clinic doesn’t have a name yet, but it’s under construction across from Woodman’s in Sun Prairie.

It’s set to open in Spring 2021.