Clutha Vets has moved to allay concerns over the closure of a Lawrence veterinary practice.
Members of the Lawrence farming community contacted the Otago Daily Times last week to express concern that the purchase by Clutha Vets and subsequent closure of the only full-time vet clinic in the town signalled the end of localised services for the area.
Before retiring last week, vet Tom Henderson had operated in the town for about 10 years, independent of Clutha Vets' organisation - a community shareholder-owned vet club with clinics in Balclutha and Milton.
However, Clutha Vets senior vet John Smart said there was ``nothing sinister'' about the purchase of the clinic.
``It's just a commercial decision. We consider Lawrence to be our patch.''
He said the company had begun planning a new, replacement clinic, which would be built on the former PGG Wrightson site, on the town's Ross Pl.
``We bought Tom's business because we didn't want anybody else moving in [to Lawrence] while we get the new clinic up and running.''
