Shareholders

The shareholders in the company are Peter, Neil and Craig. We now employ 7 veterinarians with an office and nursing staff of 6. We are a graduate friendly practice and currently accept 10 to 20 student placements throughout the year. See staff page.

History

Dr. Bill Spotswood established Smithton Veterinary Service in 1961.

At that time the Tasmanian Government employed veterinarians to run commercial rural practices offering a full range of clinical services.

The government encouraged these veterinarians to establish private practices where possible.

Bill saw that an opportunity existed in Circular Head and began operating, initially out of his garage before moving to premises in Smith Street. Since then the practice has continued to expand.

In 1972, 5 years after taking in Dr. Trevor Leis as a partner, Bill retired from clinical work and moved to Queensland. At that time, although the dairy industry in Tasmania was in recession with adult milking cows fetching as little as $20, Trevor employed a new graduate Dr. Graeme Stephensen.

The dairy industry slowly climbed out of recession and Graeme became a partner in 1976. A third veterinarian, Dr Peter Wendell-Smith, joined the practice as a new graduate in 1979.

The practice continued to expand and in 1987 Peter became a partner. This was followed shortly after by a move to larger premises at Montagu Road.

In 1993 Trevor retired and Dr. Neil Leighton took over his share of the practice. By this time Smithton Veterinary Service employed 5 veterinarians and the premises at Montagu Road were becoming crowded.

In June 1996 a move was made to a new and much larger modern clinic at 33 Nelson Street.
Up until this time the practice had operated a separate merchandising business to service the needs of the dairy industry in Circular Head.

With the introduction of the GST in 2000 these two businesses amalgamated to become Smithton Veterinary Service Pty. Ltd.

In June 2007 Graeme moved to Hobart and sold his share in the business to Craig.