Welcome to the Little River Veterinary Services, covering Banks Peninsula, with mobile clinics in Akaroa and Diamond Harbour.

Kia ora, we provide veterinary services, animal health products and pet foods for all types of animals on Banks Peninsula, from budgies to bulls! 

Paul is in Akaroa on Monday and Thursday afternoons, and Diamond Harbour on Tuesday afternoons. House calls along the way on these days are free for mileage, and large animal calls en route on these days are only charged mileage at half rates (shared travel). We can also deliver or drop off pet foods and animal health products along the way.

We are open weekdays 8am till 6pm, and Saturday mornings 10am till 12 noon. We also do farm and house calls. Please contact us for an appointment. We provide an emergency service afterhours. Our telephone number is (03) 3251940 or 027 374 5492.

About us

Dr Paul Williams is our veterinarian. He qualified from Onderstepoort, Pretoria, in South Africa in 1991. He has worked as a mixed species practioner on Banks Peninsula since 2005, and is proud to launch this independent, locally owned and operated veterinary service to allow the people and animals of this very special part of the world a choice in veterinary service providers. Originally from Cape Town, Paul grew up on a peninsula and so feels very much at home on this one. He enjoys the work and lifestyle here, and is committed to staying and serving the needs of this community. He owned a veterinary practice in suburban Cape Town before moving to New Zealand, and also helped set up and run a welfare clinic for the animals of Khayelitsha, a township outside Cape Town home to about a million disadvantaged people. Heather, his wife, has joined the team, bringing her formidable planning and business skills to the mix. She was practice manager for Paul’s Cape Town clinic as well as serving as chairperson, treasurer, secretary and member of many Little River community organizations, and both are excited about this venture and have enjoyed planning it together from the beginning. They have two children, a son at Lincoln High, and a daughter at Little River School.

Jo Stuart has worked as receptionist, sales person, animal care giver and theatre assistant to mention just a few of her many veterinary roles on the Peninsula since 2004. She knows most of the veterinary clients, products and suppliers, so is a wealth of information and advice. Jo was brought up on a sheep and beef farm in Cheviot and after leaving high school in Christchurch worked as laboratory assistant in the serology department for Pearson Laboratory as well as doing a little travelling. She is married to Chris who is a born and bred Little River chap, and whom many of you will know through his shearing and fencing work on the Peninsula. Their daughter Bridie is a nurse at Christchurch Public working in one of the Cardiology wards and their son Jonty is doing a building course at Polytech. Jo and Heather are currently job sharing.

What is the Little River Vet Service all about? We offer a personal caring service for all creatures great and small. We realise prevention is better than cure and so aim to be proactive in offering primary  health services; animal health planning for all species, targeted vaccination, internal and external parasite control programs, correct nutrition, de sexing, and prophylactic dental treatment among others. We also know the Peninsula is unique and isn’t comfortable with the “one size fits all” approach, so we try to be flexible in our thinking.

We are working from Paul & Heather’s home and have set up our operating theatre and hospital in their cottage, so we can now offer a full service. We are proud to be able to offer the latest in anaesthetic and monitoring equipment to make our clinic as safe as we possibly can. We also carry a large range of Hills & Royal Canin cat and dog food at the clinic, as well as offering many other products for sale online- see our shop page.

So why choose us?

Banks Peninsula owned and operated.

Experienced and friendly staff- Paul & Jo have 13 years Peninsula veterinary experience behind them. Heather has also been married to Paul for 13 years, so has a reasonable idea how he thinks!

24/7 Little River based service including afterhours emergencies- no need to travel to Christchurch with your pet.

Open till 6pm weekdays and 10am-12noon on Saturday mornings. 24/7 drop offs and pick ups for in patients, because we live here.

Regular visits around the Peninsula- free or shared mileage if you can work in with these days- see above.

Consistant, caring service from the same vet- no need to start explaining the history all over again.

We are a Christian business, and strive to be ethical and honest.

Because we work from home our overheads are low and our prices are competitive. We can also closely monitor hospital patients day and night.

Our equipment is modern, and much is brand new- especially for anaesthesia and monitoring, so we provide the safest possible conditions.

Convenient online sales and home delivery- see our shop page.