Meet the Team at Hamilton Small Animal Veterinary Centre

Our Team of Veterinarians

Our small-animal vets all have wide experience in companion- animal medicine and surgery and offer your treasured pet the very best care.

Dr Amanda Briston B.Vet.Med. MVM

Small Animal Veterinarian

After graduating from the Royal Veterinary College in London, Amanda moved to New Zealand in 2001 for a 6 month locum stint and hasn’t left since!

Amanda joined Hamilton Small Animal Veterinary Centre in 2014 and completed her Masters of Veterinary Medicine in 2015.

She has a particular interest in Rabbit medicine.

Dr Simon Clark BSVc

Small Animal Veterinarian

Simon grew up in Auckland and after graduating from Massey’s veterinary program started work in West Auckland in 2001.

He undertook an internship at a specialist hospital in 2006 and worked at a dedicated companion animal emergency hospital in Las Vegas until 2009 when he returned to New Zealand.

Settling in Kirikiriroa/Hamilton in 2014, Simon spent 4 years working as a veterinary technical advisor for a veterinary pharmaceutical company before returning to clinical practice when he joined the team at Hamilton Small Animal Vets.

Simon likes science-fiction, running, philosophy, environmentalism, trivia and cooking.

Dr Henri Mostert BSVc

Small Animal Veterinarian

Henri graduated with a BVSc degree from the University of Pretoria (South Africa) in 1993 where he worked for one year as a Government Vet and then started his own practice in 1994.

Henri was a practice owner in Pretoria and later in Vryheid where he worked with all sorts of animals including wildlife.

He and his family decided emigrate to NZ and landed here in early 2016 where he joined MPI as an MPI Vet.

After two years his love for companion animal practice made him turn back to private practice, initially in the far South Island and eventually here in Hamilton.

Henri is married and the father of five children (and two fur babies). He loves outdoor nature activities and a good Braai (BBQ) – like any South African!

Dr Nicole Hunwick BSVc

Small Animal Veterinarian

Nicole is a local girl from Hamilton who has returned home after 4 years travelling around the world and recently completing 2 years in the UK as a vet.

She graduated from Massey in 2015, has worked as a small animal vet since and loves all aspects of 1st opinion practice.

In her spare time she loves hiking, and exploring the outdoors. She has a beautiful cat called Professor Dumbledore.

Dr Larry Van Niekirk BVSc(Hons) MVetMed(Chirg)

Veterinary Surgeon

Larry received his veterinary degree from Onderstepoort in South Africa in 1982. Soon after graduation, he became passionate about veterinary surgery.

Larry completed both an Honours and Masters in Veterinary Surgery and was a partner in a multidisciplinary 24 hour veterinary team in Johannesburg.

Larry is passionate about every aspect of veterinary surgery but is particularly interested in helping client make the sometimes-difficult decisions in emergency and surgical decision-making situations.

Outside work, Larry lives in Glenbrook and enjoys spending time with his partner Katy Jo – hiking, canoeing and fishing.

Dr Ian Millward BVSc (Dist), Cert SAS, MMedVet (Chir) (SA) (Dist)

Referral Small Animal Surgeon

Gaining his Bachelor of Veterinary Science with distinction from Massey he worked in Taumaranui for 3 years before moving to Essex in the UK for 10 years where he developed a surgical referral service and gained a certificate in Small Animal Surgery.

Ian then moved to Pretoria where he worked as a referral small animal surgeon at the University of Pretoria for 7 years eventually acting as head of small animal surgery for 2 years.

Since returning in mid-2010 to NZ he has been working in partnership with Hamilton Small Animal Veterinary Centre to develop the Veterinary Referral Service for companion animal referral surgical work.