History

NSVets commenced operations in 1965 as the Waimea Plains Veterinary Club. In the beginning, the clinic consisted only of a double garage in Riversdale. Graham Shearman, the first and only veterinarian to be employed at the time, came to Riversdale after local farmers expressed their need for a veterinarian.

In 1966, the club employed Hamish Mavor who would go on to become a senior veterinarian and chief executive for nearly 40 years before his death in 2007. The club flourished under his management becoming a very successful business serving an area stretching from Mandeville to Te Anau.

As membership grew steadily, the facilities at Riversdale expanded and land for the Te Anau clinic was purchased in 1971. The satellite depots in Lumsden and Mossburn were purchased shortly after this in 1974. New facilities and upgrades have continued right through until the most recent development of the Te Anau clinic in 2005 and the state-of-the-art Riversdale clinic in 2012.

Today we have two fully equipped veterinary clinics operating in Riversdale and Te Anau, employing ten full-time veterinarians, eight based in Riversdale and two in Te Anau. Even though farm animals are still our major focus, the business has changed somewhat in the last few decades so that companion animals, particularly working dogs, now comprise a substantial portion of our work.