About Richland Animal Hospital

Earl Moore studied at the University of Washington for two years before joining the Navy to serve in World War II. After serving in the Navy for three years, Earl returned to the University of Washington to complete his degree, and while there, he met and married his wife, Jean. Following graduation, the Moores moved to Pullman, where Earl attended Washington State University, graduating in 1951 with his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree.

In 1953, Dr. Moore was asked to come to Richland as there was no Veterinarian in the town. Dr. Moore agreed and moved his family to Richland. When Dr. Moore arrived, he found no Veterinarian here; there was also no facility to practice Veterinary medicine in. Dr. Moore and his wife applied for a loan from the bank to build a clinic, but they were turned away. The graciousness of friends would provide the loan for the Moores to build the Richland Animal Hospital. Dr. Moore would run the hospital until he retired in 1990.

Before his retirement, Dr. Moore would hire a female veterinarian who had been practicing in the area after having graduated just three years earlier from WSU College of Veterinary Medicine. Her name was Dr. Sharon Watson. Dr. Watson would go on to purchase the Richland Animal Hospital in 1993.

In February 1996, the hospital that Dr. Moore and his wife had built would be destroyed by the devastating flooding of the Yakima River. Once the water had subsided, Dr. Watson would go on to reopen a makeshift clinic in the parking lot as she rebuilt Richland Animal Hospital from the ground up. She would salvage as much as possible from the original building and its history. Most notably would be the hand-carved door to Dr. Moore’s clinic. Today that door is displayed in the reception area of the new hospital, not just for the craftsmanship and beauty of the door, but as a reminder of the history of the Richland Animal Hospital.