About Us

We are proud to serve the North Simcoe area for everything pet related. Our veterinary clinic and animal hospital is led by Dr. Joel Rumney and Dr. Edie Haberfellner (Rumney), who are licensed veterinarians with over 50 year experience between the two.

Our team, which consists of eight doctors and over fifteen support staff, is committed to educating our clients in how to keep your pets healthy year round, through both preventative medicine and emergency care. North Simcoe & Midland Veterinary Services stays on top of the latest advances in veterinarian technology and above all, remembers that all animals and pets need to be treated with compassionate care in every check-up, procedure, and surgery.

The History of our Clinic

Born and raised just up the road from the present clinic site, Joel is the only son of Harry (a farmer by birth, raising purebred Shorthorn cattle, sheep, horses, hogs and poultry) and Patricia (a teacher at the one room schoolhouse) Rumney. Born and raised in “the valley,” Joel graduated from the one room school “Riverside”, just down the road - the same school from which his father and grandmother graduated.

North Simcoe Veterinary Services opened for business May 5, 1983, shortly after Dr. Joel Rumney graduated from the Ontario Veterinary College in Guelph.
The clinic is located on Joel’s great grandfather’s farm – which he pioneered, settling there in 1882. Joel’s family is the 5th generation on the Rumney homestead.

Veterinary medicine was not something new to the Rumney family. Dr. Wilfred Rumney and his little sister Jean Rumney (cousins of Joel’s father and raised next door) were both veterinarians. Wilf went on to build and operate the Blue Cross Animal Hospital on King Street in Hamilton. Wilf later became the president of the College of Veterinarians and lectured at the Ontario Veterinary College. Dr. Jean Rumney, although severely affected by polio at a very young age, became the first Canadian woman to graduate from the Ontario Veterinary College in 1939. She continued her brother Wilf’s role at the Blue Cross Animal Hospital until her death in 1974.

Upon graduation, Joel began to build in earnest the present clinic. Two hundred logs were cut from Uncle Frank Rumney's bush on the other side of the valley; before winter set in, the outer shell of the clinic was complete. On New Year’s Eve, 1983, Joel was able to move into the large animal area of the clinic while work continued on the small animal clinic between farm calls.

Finally, in August 1984, after facility inspection by the College of Veterinarians of Ontario (CVO), the current small animal clinic was officially opened.

In the fall of 1988, the kennel facility was added to provide boarding and grooming areas. Once again, most of the construction was completed by Joel and his now several employees.

As the business began to grow, Joel realized the veterinary workload now necessitated the addition of another veterinarian.

Joel’s first student intern, Edith Haberfellner, enjoyed her student placement so much that she joined North Simcoe Veterinary Services upon her graduation in 1987. Working together, the association soon turned romantic and Edith & Joel were married in Jasper, Alberta in May of 1989.

The community’s need for a full service veterinary clinic for both large and small animals soon resulted in the need for a larger staff and more veterinarians. The result was a formation of a veterinary team of more than half a dozen veterinarians and a team of nearly twenty technicians, receptionists, and kennel staff, with many developing expertise in their particular area of interest.

The growth of the practice reached a new milestone in 1997, as one became two! The purchase of Midland Veterinary Services from Dr. Ben van Toledo was finalized in December, and ever since our sister locations of our North Simcoe & Midland clinics have operated together to provide care for our extended area. Many of our veterinarians and staff continue to rotate between the two locations, while some familiar faces can be reliably found at their clinic of choice.

The conversion of our Midland location into the current practice was also a great endeavor, as the original residential house on site was converted into the veterinary hospital you see today. The original veterinary building used before us has gone on to serve many purposes over the years, and in current times now serves as a full-time grooming facility.

In July 2015, a major revision of North Simcoe Veterinary Services lobby was begun. Recognizing the need for more room, Dr. Joel Rumney broke ground for the extension.

Soon, the foundation was being laid and the walls raised. Joel, realizing that winter was quickly approaching, took pity on this staff and quickly added solid walls and a heated lobby floor. Soon, winter was here and the "pretty" inside work began - inside walls, skylights, and tiled floors. Eventually, construction was complete and the new lobby was finished.

In 2020, another ambitious renovation was started. With eight rotating vets, Joel realised his clinic procedural area was too small for the workload. Work began knocking down walls to create one open treatment space, install a dedicated dental surgery table, and expand both the surgery suite and hospital wards.

Today, our original North Simcoe homestead continues to provide veterinary medicine to animals of all sizes, from small animal (cats & dogs) up to large animal (horses, cows, other ruminants) and everything in between, while our Midland facility focuses on companion animals and some exotics.

Whether your animals are big or small, sleep in your bed or in the barn, our talented team are here to help. Thank you for entrusting us with their care, and we look forward to sharing future news and growth from North Simcoe & Midland Veterinary Services!