West Buckland based Cave Veterinary Specialists have welcomed a new head surgeon to his post.

David Haine has spent two years at the animal hospital, before being promoted into his new role as head of surgery.

Having graduated from Cambridge university in 2013, David started out his career in veterinary medicine at a small practice in Devon, where he remained for four years.

After an internship at the University of Bristol and a surgical residency at a Cambridgeshire vets, David returned to Devon to take up work as a surgeon for Cave.

David said: “We have a fantastic team of surgeons and nurses at Cave and I hope to be able to support them to continue providing high class surgical care in the south-west. 

“As our team has expanded, it gives us opportunities to provide better and broader surgical support to vets across the region. 

“I will support the team so we can help vets and animals who need us, but also to make sure we let people know about our expanded capacity and range of service.” 

 David's decade-long career has seen him take on tough cases - his favourite being a successful seven hour operation on a dog who had jumped off a 30 ft high cliff. The dog was up and running within a few months of the complex surgery.