Controversial Melbourne vet Dr Christopher Preston reinstated after ban

Melbourne vet Christopher Preston has returned to work after a watchdog ruling which banned him from treating animals was overturned.

Vetinary surgeon Dr Chris Preston has been reinstated after the Veterinary Practitioners Board had stripped him of his licence.

A controversial veterinary surgeon has quietly returned to work more than a year after Victoria’s vet watchdog banned him from treating animals.

Dr Christopher Preston was sensationally deregistered after he was found to have mistreated beloved family pets and offered poor medical advice to their families on two separate occasions.

An earlier Herald Sun investigation into the experienced vet unearthed allegations of serious misconduct, with former clients accusing him of “botching” surgeries on their pets.

In August 2022 a Veterinary Practitioners Board disciplinary panel found Dr Preston had engaged in an unprofessional conduct of a serious nature – as well as a slew of other scathing findings – and stripped him of his vet licence.

Having likened his own case to that of controversial neurosurgeon Dr Charlie Teo, Dr Preston fought vehemently to get back into the industry, appealing to a Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

Dr Preston is now working at Melbourne Veterinary Orthopaedics.

In March this year, buried deep within a VetBoard Victoria newsletter, it was revealed he had been reinstated as a specialist in small animal surgery.

Dr Preston has been operating again over the past few months out of his new “boutique” practice, Melbourne Veterinary Orthopaedics.

On the company’s website he is celebrated as a “highly experienced and qualified” specialist.

“Dr Chris is the most highly qualified joint surgeon for dogs, in Australasia and one of only thirteen to be recognised as a founding fellow in joint replacement surgery world wide,” the website reads.

The Herald Sun can reveal the VetBoard reinstated Dr Preston after he made a formal request in February this year.

In a letter issued to former clients of the veterinary surgeon, the board said Dr Preston would be reinstated as a general practitioner, with a set of “strict conditions” imposed on him.

Under the conditions he must satisfy standards of patient safety, clinical effectiveness, satisfactory patient outcomes and client experience.

He is also required to provide evidence showing he has met these standards and makes strides to make continuous improvement.

The VetBoard said they would continue to monitor his “fitness” to run his practice.

Tonyalee Boxall, – whose 19-month-old Rottweiler was the subject of previous complaints to the VetBoard – said the decision to reinstate Dr Preston was “absolutely devastating”.

Tonyalee Boxall and her mother Caroline Miller with Onyx’s ashes. Picture: David Caird

Ms Boxall sought out Dr Preston in 2021 after she discovered a tumour forming on her dog’s gum.

Ms Boxall said her dog, Onyx, was operated on three times by Dr Preston over the course of a month all while he told her he was “confident” he could remove the mass.

She said her pleas for help went unheard as Onyx’s condition worsened, and Ms Boxall was forced to seek another vet who would eventually have to euthanise her dog.

“It is absolutely devastating that’s there seems to be no real culpability to have it re-instated so quickly,” Ms Boxall said.

“We have all suffered tremendously and still suffer to this day, especially my grandfather and I who had to watch onyx take his last breaths,” she said.

Another pet owner, Brittany Pullen, claimed Dr Preston had failed to inform her about the full implications of surgery on her dog, Tonto.

Due to an infection that developed on the surgical wound Tonto’s leg had to be amputated and surgery costs ballooned out to $16,000, more than triple what Ms Pullen was told it would cost.

During the investigation, Dr Preston hit back at the allegations saying both owners were adequately informed of the risks and possible complications associated with their surgeries.

When approached for comment about his reinstatement, Dr Preston said he had been “picking up the pieces” since he was struck off in 2022, but refused to comment any further on the matter.

The Veterinary Board of Victoria also refused to answer questions posed regarding Dr Preston’s reinstatement.