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Excerpts from While Webb was in Columbia, she and Max stayed across town at the Red Roof Inn, one of the few hotels in the area that allow pets. She said she would have jumped at the chance to stay closer to the clinic in an environment more conducive to dealing with the situation. "It's a wonderful idea," Webb said of Barkley House. "When I had to come up there for three weeks at a time by myself, it was scary staying in a hotel in a strange town. To be around other people who could understand what I was going through would've helped a lot." Renteria - who in the summer and fall of '99 made about "eight to 10 trips" to Columbia from Des Moines, Iowa, with her Sheltie, Chauncy, before he lost his battle with cancer - shares similar feelings about Barkley House. "I think the accommodations would be much better," she said. "It's a tough time when you're dealing with a sick animal. I think if we would've had Barkley House, I could've gone down there and spent more time there, and it would've been easier on my dog." "Students, I think, will be more apt to interact with the clients, and that will give them much better training in terms of meeting the emotional needs of the pets and their families," [Henry said]. "And
another thing is that there's no place like this anywhere," she added.
"If we can do it here at Missouri, and we can do it right, I think
it will serve as an example of something that can be done at other vet
schools and clinics."
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