Your local, independent, trusted vet - Castle Vets (Dorchester) Skip to content

About us

Your local independent and trusted vet

Our practice was founded by Rip Kirby in 1992 with the ethos of being a friendly and approachable place to bring your pet. We are still committed to this, whilst providing the best possible care and treatment for all your pets. The practice remains independently owned by the vets who work in it, the only one in the area now. Being independent ensures the practice employees are motivated only by making pets better, not by keeping shareholders happy.

We have highly trained and experienced staff who will work with you to keep your pet in the best of health. We offer a full range of veterinary services, preventative health care, consultations, in-house diagnostic testing, imaging, and surgery. We have also partnered with Virtual Veterinary Specialists to ensure almost every problem imaginable can be dealt with right here at Castle Vets. We also offer a monthly budgeting plan and provide our own out of hours care to all our registered patients.

Many clients have been with us years and we consider them old friends, but we are always happy to welcome new faces, paws, tails and whiskers! Please do not hesitate to contact us about any matter big or small.

Reviews

Meet just a few of our happy owners and their pets!

Always friendly and helpful, and the dog doesn't mind going there which is a bonus 👍🏻
We can never thank Castle vets enough for the outstanding care over 10 years for our amazing dog Alfie. As well as all the routine checks, vaccinations and general care, they recognised aged 3 that he would need life changing knee surgery to prolong his life, which would have been shortened considerably had we opted for pain relief only, and which also improved his quality of life. He loved visiting both the Weymouth and Dorchester surgeries and all the staff always welcomed him despite his boisterous greetings which sometimes involved paws on the reception desk and knocking down of displays! When we became concerned that he was seriously ill, they were prompt and sensitive in their investigations and in giving us dreaded news, helping us to digest the implications for Alfie. This meant that we made the right decisions for him and he had a good last week of life with a final walk on the beach, a final visit to his favourite dog friendly pub (the Springhead at Sutton Poyntz and the last thing he actually ate - some carvery pork) - and time at home resting on the sofa, going down the garden, or sitting outside sniffing the air. When we saw a deterioration which signalled that he was uncomfortable, we called the vets and within 40 minutes, despite being nearly midnight, Kirsty the vet and Roxy, veterinary nurse, arrived at our house and made sure that Alfie's death was a calm, peaceful and dignified one. They must have been tired, but they sat on the floor with us all reminiscing about him, stroking him, talking to him and crying and only left, over an hour later, when we were ready. Alfie loved Castle vets and we do too.
Private practice so helpful and very careing. Piece of mind.
Independent vets surgery. Brilliant vets. Wouldn't take our dogs anywhere else.
Recommended so highly, this place and its staff are all amazing!
Very friendly, kept everything safe with distancing but still had that personal touch.
Great vets.
Good care of our animals
Wonderful vets and staff, kind and professional.
Used this vet for many years and I would not want to go anywhere else, they looked after my little girl (cat) a year or so ago and they were amazing at such a hard time in my life, I was able to stay with my cat as I said goodbye. They aways do the best for my cats. Very understanding and kind. Would highly recommend.
Castle Vet's lovely. Welcoming! Organized! Knowledgable! And friendly!
Caring, reliable veterinary practice. Very pleasant staff, well equipped surgery, cat- friendly waiting area. Recommended.
Lovely kind staff. Great facilities.
a loving, caring, passionate and hardworking team....the animals are treated like their own would be...time is dedicated to each individual client and their pets and they work so hard behind the scene......awesome team.....rock on.👍👍👍
Communicated and were responsive, not used their services with a visit yet...
Can not put into words our thanks for saving kayaks (our Siberian husky) life, removed a 5kg tumour.Giles and team were fantastic all of you! Thanks
Very satisfied with the service i recieved from castle vets.Would recommend to any one to take there.
Friendly knowledgeable staff, very caring and efficient. Highly recommend
Would be nice if a bench was provided in the car park to sit on. As our appointment was running late and we weren't in a car because Maisie Pearce doesn't like getting in cars. Staff were excellent though.
Been going there for more than 20 years with various cats. Wouldn't go anywhere else. They are brilliant
Kind friendly caring staffAffordable and flexible with appointments.Took our cat willow there and they kept her so calm you can really tell all the staff really care about the animals there treating and caring for.Would definitely recommend them to anyone in weymouth or dorchester looking to register their pet for a vet.
Nice friendly staff and good service, but cost of drugs high
1st class. Friendly understanding staff, who are genuinely concerned for welfare of all the animals they see.
Yes we have just moved vets to Castle Veterinary Clinic Weymouth and are very happy that we did Buddy our Westie was made so welcome and he was happy with his treatment
Highly recommend, We've used this clinic for over 10 years and wouldn't go anywhere else.