Three Counties

Peter Aitken BVSc MACVS MRCVS

Peter started working as a veterinarian in 2002 in farm animal practice in New Zealand after finishing his studies at Massey University.

Since graduating Peter has been focused on farm animals, working for three years in New  Zealand before heading to the UK to work at the Northpoint practice for three years. He then went back to NZ, with his now wife, Rosie, but has returned to the UK to work with us again. 

During his absence from the UK he undertook additional study and completed his membership examinations for the Australian College of Veterinary Scientists in ruminant nutrition. Peter has a passion for ensuring that feeding is optimized for both production and also for the health of the animal and its ability to remain in the herd, nutrition being such a key aspect to nearly all sides of the coin with regards farm animals.

He also spent time in Vietnam, working on a large dairy unit that was being established. At that time there were around 12,000 animals on the farm with each individual unit planned to milk 2,500 cows. The project involved teaching the local vets and working with the farms to develop protocols and management systems.

He also has a keen interest in alpacas and together with publishing a guide for vets and breeders in NZ, has been the president of the NZVA camelid branch, and has been involved in lecturing and online courses in alpaca health and veterinary aspects.

Outside of work Peter enjoys spending time on the golf course among a number of other rather more diverse past times such as music and travel, and his previous stint in the UK garnered a keen interest in good single malts!

Julian Dare  BVetMed MRCVS 

After graduation from the Royal Veterinary College, Jules went straight into mixed practice in Cornwall.  Here he rapidly developed a keen interest in all aspects of farm animal medicine and surgery, and in between TB tests, helped to look after a number of beef and dairy herds ranging from 5 to 1000 cows. 

Jules joined the Westpoint Vet Group in 2005 as the senior vet at the Northpoint office and has continues to develop his interests in dairy cow mastitis control and fertility as well as beef herd helth and production.  As a result of the 2007 Bluetongue outbreak in his practice area, Jules has worked closely with local and regional farmer  groups and national companies to promote the Bluetongue vaccination scheme throughout the country.