Santa Barbara County pet lovers learned this week that one of the animal community’s mainstays was forced to shut down Tuesday morning amid financial troubles.

The owners of the California Animal Referral and Emergency (C.A.R.E.) Hospital, 310 E. Haley St., announced that the company behind the operation will file for bankruptcy. The move also put about 60 of the clinic’s employees out of work.

The 24-hour specialty hospital was the only one of its kind between Ventura and Arroyo Grande.

“It is our hope that a new facility will emerge from our wonderful staff and veterinary community, and that the Santa Barbara community will support them as they have us,” said a message posted on the hospital’s Web site Tuesday. “The owners and staff at CARE Hospital are deeply saddened to have to close our doors. We thank you for your many years of support.”

The seemingly sudden announcement of the clinic’s closing stems from a judgment the two owners, veterinarian Deanna Purvis and psychologist Trish Lane, have been ordered to pay to a partner in the business, Eric Wright.

According to legal documents on file with Santa Barbara County Superior Court, Purvis and Lane moved to the West Coast from North Carolina to start the business and approached Wright, who had his own animal surgery practice, about being a partner in the operation in 2001.

The company was incorporated in 2002, and business began the next summer. Each contributed $30,000 in start-up capital, and, according to legal documents, “Wright contributed his practice appraised at $186,000 and up to $100,000 in medical equipment.” Wright also used his home as collateral to secure a “substantial” business loan that provided addition capital for the corporation.

Included in the contract drafted at incorporation was the condition that Wright obtain board certification by April 2008. He was a residency qualified veterinarian, but he wasn’t board-certified.

Purvis said other staff members have joined with the condition — she called it a “prerequisite” — that they become board-certified and have done so.

Documents say Wright submitted an article for publication in 2007 to a veterinary medicine journal, which was one of the prerequisites of board certification. The article went unpublished, however, and Wright requested an extension from the other two owners after realizing the time it would take to write another article, get it published and comply with other board-certification requirements.

Since Lane and Purvis owned a two-thirds share in the company’s interest, they could vote on whether to extend the time period for Wright to get his certification, and they voted against the request. Wright was notified in November 2007 that his employment would be terminated the following April.

A lawsuit was filed, and a judge ruled in Wright’s favor. In May, Purvis and Lane were ordered to pay Wright a judgment of more than $1 million to buy him out as partner of the business, an amount Purvis said is leaving the owners no choice but bankruptcy.

“There’s no way this young company can pay that,” said Purvis, adding that she and Lane have tried to negotiate with Wright, but without success.

Wright said his suit against the other two owners of the company isn’t the cause of their bankruptcy, and that it only adds to what he contends has been “gross mismanagement.”

Wright said that since the pair have made only one $10,000 payment to him since the judgment was issued, and that they’ve used his equipment for free, he may have to file for bankruptcy because of the deal’s financial repercussions.

He runs his own surgical business now, traveling throughout Santa Barbara and Ventura counties and working from different veterinary offices. He said he had to buy all new equipment.

“My hope was that they could work something out,” he said.

Since the final judgment was filed in May, Purvis said she has been trying to get loans and has been looking for additional investments that could help salvage the company. But the economy has left lenders nervous, and a loan hasn’t been an option to pay the judgment.

Purvis said she has been unable to pay employees and was forced to explain the situation to the staff Friday, informing employees of what was afoot and what had transpired.

At this point, Purvis said she and Lane are just trying to get the bankruptcy filed and move on with their lives. “We’ve given all we can,” she said, adding that she and Lane have put their life savings into the business.

“I don’t know what will happen in January,” she said. “This is a great group of people, and it’s a needed service in this area. … I have to hope that something will rise from the ashes.”

Purvis said anyone with questions can go to the Web site at www.carehospital.org and submit them through the e-mail form. The hospital will continue to honor appointments that have already been made with specialists in internal medicine, dermatology, surgery and oncology.

A Noozhawk reader who called the animal hospital Tuesday she she was told someone would be in the office to answer phones through 8 p.m. Wednesday.

Residents with veterinary emergencies can go to Veterinary Medical & Surgical Group, 2199 Sperry Ave., Ventura (805.339.2290) or Pet Emergency, 2301 S. Victoria Ave., Ventura (805.642.8562) or Arroyo Grande Pet Emergency, 1558 W. Branch St., Arroyo Grande (805.489.6573).

— Noozhawk staff writer Lara Cooper can be reached at lcooper@noozhawk.com.

[Noozhawk’s note: The comments feature on this article has been closed as of Jan. 25, 2010.]