Nurturing happiness on Courthouse Road.

"Lucks Lane Veterinary Clinic was built on a simple idea: passionate people make better medicine. Whether your family member is a Labrador, a leopard gecko, or a lop-eared rabbit, every patient deserves calm, expert, individualized care."

Dr. Sara de Wet's story.

Sara de Wet, DVM, MPH, is the driving force behind Lucks Lane Veterinary Clinic. She earned her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine alongside a Master of Public Health, a combination that shapes her approach to every patient: she thinks about the individual animal, the household it lives in, and the broader community around it. Her clinical interests span companion animal medicine and exotic species — a range that is genuinely rare in private practice.

"I wanted a practice where 'exotic' wasn't an afterthought," she'll tell you. "Birds, reptiles, small mammals, amphibians — these patients have real medical needs and their owners deserve the same quality of care as any dog or cat owner. That was the reason to open our own doors."

Dr. de Wet built the clinic from the ground up in the Shoppes at Lucks Lane, a shopping center on Courthouse Road in North Chesterfield. The location was deliberate — close to the residential neighborhoods of Midlothian, Bon Air, and Brandermill, easy to reach from Richmond proper, and accessible to clients coming in from Powhatan and Henrico.

In 2024 the clinic moved into a brand-new, purpose-built facility designed from scratch around the needs of both companion and exotic patients. The new building features six exam rooms with species separation, a dedicated Exotics Ward, a full surgery suite, a dental suite, an imaging suite with advanced ultrasound and digital X-ray, and an in-house IDEXX laboratory. Every square foot was planned to reduce patient stress and improve clinical outcomes.

Today Dr. de Wet leads a team of veterinarians, registered veterinary technicians, assistants, receptionists, and managers — all of whom, in her words, are "genuinely passionate about nurturing happiness for your pets and your family."

Fear Free and a purpose-built home.

Fear Free isn't a marketing credential for us — it's how we practice. The principle is woven into our physical space and our daily protocols. Six exam rooms with deliberate species separation mean your rabbit isn't sharing a waiting room with a German Shepherd. The dedicated Exotics Ward provides an isolated, calm environment for birds, reptiles, and small mammals who experience stress differently than dogs and cats do.

Low-stress handling techniques, pheromone support, careful pre-visit communication with owners, and patient-paced appointments are all part of the Fear Free framework we apply every day. We designed the new 2024 facility with these principles in mind before the first wall went up.

We are members of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) and the Virginia Veterinary Medical Association (VVMA), and we hold ourselves to the professional standards those memberships represent. We stay current with continuing education, particularly in exotic animal medicine, because the field moves quickly and our patients deserve up-to-date care.

The team that makes it work.

Dr. Sara de Wet leads the veterinary team with a focus on both companion and exotic animal medicine. Her dual DVM and MPH training gives her a perspective on animal health that extends from the individual patient to the community level — useful when you're treating everything from diabetic cats to bearded dragons to backyard chickens.

Dr. Allison Robbins, DVM, is a valued member of the clinical team. Her dedication to thorough diagnostics and compassionate patient handling has made her a trusted face for clients across Richmond and Chesterfield. She brings energy and care to every appointment, from routine wellness exams to more complex cases.

Our associate veterinarians — who you can meet in full on the Our Vets page — round out a team capable of handling general medicine, surgery, dentistry, and exotic species care under one roof. We are actively growing the team to keep pace with the demand for exotic animal medicine in the Richmond area.

Supporting the doctors is a team of extraordinary registered veterinary technicians, assistants, receptionists, and practice managers. Every person on the floor was hired because they are genuinely passionate about animals — and because calm, competent support staff is what makes Fear Free medicine actually work in a busy clinic.

1108-G Courthouse Road.

Lucks Lane Veterinary Clinic is located in the Shoppes at Lucks Lane at 1108-G Courthouse Road in North Chesterfield — just minutes from Midlothian, Bon Air, Brandermill, and the broader Richmond metro. The new facility opened in 2024 and was built from the ground up to serve companion and exotic patients at the highest standard.

The building includes six exam rooms with species separation for a Fear Free experience; a dedicated Exotics Ward — an isolated medical wing built specifically for exotic species; a full imaging suite with advanced ultrasound and digital X-ray; a dental suite designed for maximum cleanliness, sterilization, and patient comfort; a surgery suite outfitted with oxygen lines and new equipment; three dedicated treatment tables in the treatment room; an observation room with oxygen lines for post-surgery and critical patients; an advanced IDEXX in-house laboratory; and a generous pharmacy.

Every design decision in the new facility was made with one question in mind: does this reduce stress and improve outcomes for patients and the people who care for them? We think the answer, room by room, is yes.

What we do — and what we don't.

We're a general-practice clinic with companion and exotic animal medicine at our core. We see dogs, cats, birds, reptiles (lizards, turtles, snakes), small mammals (rabbits, guinea pigs, ferrets), amphibians (frogs and salamanders), and pocket pets. We offer wellness care, sick visits, surgery, dentistry, diagnostics, and in-house laboratory services. If your pet is an exotic species and you're not sure whether we see them, call us — the answer is usually yes.

We don't offer 24-hour emergency critical care or board-certified specialty surgery on-site. For after-hours emergencies we refer to the Veterinary Emergency Center of Richmond, available around the clock with experienced emergency veterinarians. For specialty referrals requiring oncology, advanced imaging, or board-certified internal medicine, we work closely with the veterinary specialists serving the greater Richmond area. We can usually be reached by phone for triage advice if you're unsure whether your situation is urgent.