The Story of Pelyn Veterinay Group ... So far....
In 1906 Lostwithiel Cattle Market opened and ran for many years (closing eventually in 1976). Yet up to the Second World War, Lostwithiel did not have its own vet. Joe Parker, a vet then working in St Austell, found he was spending much of his time in and around the market, and on the farms that supplied cattle for sale so he decided to move and set up practice in Lostwithiel. In 1975 he retired and a new vet, Jonathon Stirling, arrived in the town. The surgery was then situated over the bridge in Bridgend. Up until then the practice had always been run from the house but Jonathon built a new purpose built surgery behind his home. Looking back now it was very small and basic but, at the time, was quite an innovation.
In 1979, Nicky Paull, the now senior partner, came to work for Jonathon straight from Liverpool University, having qualified as a vet. In those days the work consisted of about 80% farm work and a small amount of horse and companion animal work. Wednesday used to be the only small animal operating day.
In the autumn of 1984, the branch surgery as St Austell was opened. It was housed in what was the doctor’s surgery. For some years we still had a few clients coming in to make appointments for themselves as they did not realise the doctor had moved. It did cause some confusion at the reception desk on occasions.
Not long after, the new building housing the Lostwithiel surgery was started and we moved up to Nomansland in the early Spring of 1985. This enabled us to not only continue to provide a good service for our farm and horse clients but it also meant we could start to develop the services we now offer to our companion animal patients in both St Austell and Lostwithiel.
Jonathon sold the practice to Nicky Paull in 1988. We were a 3 vet practice in those days. Now we have 9 full time vets and 4 part time vets. In 1991 Peter Chew joined the partnership and Martyn Phippen became a partner in 2005.
In 2001 the development at the back of the Lostwithiel branch was started just a week before the first outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease was announced. The building work continued surrounded by the chaos and confusion that FMD brought to the area. As we watched the new extension grow we waited with baited breath for FMD to reach our farms – luckily it never did, stopping at the border into Cornwall.
The new extension has enabled us to offer 24 hour nursing care for all our in-patients which means we can maintain a high standard of care both day and night. No one wants to leave their poorly pet unattended over night.
And so to the future........well, we promise to keep you posted!
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