Kelso celebrates 200th year of veterinary services

Staff at Kelso's Galedin Vet Surgery. Back row, left to right, Iain lathangie , Michael Kyle, Alexa Bryce, Marion Hutcheson and Tom sparks. Front row, Sheila Fleming, Robert Anderson, Lynne Cruickshanks, Terri Steele.

More than 150 farmers and animal owners turned out at Kelso’s Galedin Veterinary surgery to mark the 200th anniversary of the town’s first veterinary surgeon.

Celebrations saw clients of Galedin Vets, which has 40 vets and eight practices across the Borders, gather at the Knowes-based branch last month to take part in an open day, complete with drinks and a full hog roast.

The practice in Kelso now boasts a team of eight vets, two nurses and four clerical staff, dedicated to helping injured and poorly animals.

However, that skill was first carried out in Kelso back in 1817, when Robert Glaister, of Wooler, Northumberland, accepted an invitation by the Border Agricultural Society to move his practice there for a total sum of 50 guineas.

The society had been established just four years earlier, as a result of the Scottish agricultural revolution.

Over the years since, the practice developed and changed hands on various occasions before eventually becoming part of the Merlin Veterinary Group in 1997.

In 2015, that group teamed up with Berwick-based Renton Vets, collectively practicing as the current Galedin Vets.

Veterinary surgeon and equine director of Galedin Limited, Iain Lathangie, told The Southern: “I think we have remained as a successful business for so long as we have prided ourselves on our personal service to clients, many of whom are long-standing customers, and in some cases friends, as well as always wanting to be a the forefront of trying new things in the veterinary field.

“We have also built on the great reputation that has been handed to us from the many great and well-known vets before us that have worked from Kelso.”

MP for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk, John Lamont, was also in attendance at the open day.

He told The Southern: “I was delighted to join in with the celebrations at Galedin’s in Kelso.

“It is remarkable that Kelso has had a vet for 200 years and just goes to show the importance of animals to the way of life in the Borders.

“Veterinary practice has certainly changed a lot from the days in which vets travelled on horseback to see their patients, but it was great to hear about the modern service Galedin’s provides.”