Their positions may have changed, but the dedicated team at Mowbray Veterinary Clinic still includes the same familiar faces.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
After more than 30 years, veterinarian Peter de Boer has “passed on the baton” of the clinic’s ownership to Sally-Anne Richter.
Dr Richter has been a veterinarian at the clinic since 2015, but this month took on the role as owner, with Dr de Boer moving into the senior veterinarian position.
Dr de Boer has an extensive history of animal care in Tasmania.
After establishing the RSPCA vet clinic in Launceston in the early 1980s, he spent two years working in the UK, before returning to Mowbray to establish his own practice in 1986.
The Mowbray Veterinary Clinic has been at its current location on Pleasant Street since 1996.
With the clinic’s ownership now in the hands of Dr Richter, he said he wanted to dispel any rumours of retirement.
“I went on holiday for a month and everyone thought I had retired,” he said.
“I am not, although this move could probably be seen as the first step towards retirement.
“I like to think I am passing on the baton to Sally.
“A lot of businesses struggle with that transition of ownership, but I think in this case it’s a win win.
“We have been planning for the the future for some time, so it is a changing of the guard, of sorts.
“But I will still be at the clinic working as a vet.”
Originally from Victoria, Dr Richter came to Launceston as a new graduate in 2011.
Working with both large and small animals, the young vet said she grew up surrounded by animals and absolutely loved her job – which has brought much success.
In 2016 she received the Paul Gotis-Graham Award for gaining the highest mark of small animal surgery students in Australia, during her examinations for the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists.
Now with her new role as a business owner, she said she was excited about continuing the clinic’s legacy as a community business.
“At this stage I am just trying to get my head in the game of running a small business,” she said.
“I think it’s significant to the community that the clinic will remain a local business.
“We want to retain that culture of knowing every one of our clients by their first name, and the name of their pets of course.
“I think it is really important that the clinic retains that personal touch.
“I also look forward to nurturing education in all of our employees.”