My name is Dr. Fraser Hale. I am a veterinary dental specialist with an office in Guelph, Ontario. I am a veterinarian first, and have specialized in dental and oral surgery. I have over 26 years of experience in treating dental problems in pet animals, over 19 of those years in a referral capacity.

I treat dogs and cats of all ages, sizes and breeds on referral from veterinarians across Ontario and beyond.

Dr. Fraser Hale is a board-certified veterinary dentist. That means he is a diplomate of the American Veterinary Dental College (Dipl AVDC), which permits him to use the term ‘veterinary dental specialist’. In 1997, following several years of part-time study, Dr. Hale became the first veterinarian in Ontario and the third in Canada to pass all three parts of the AVDC’s examination and gain this credential. There are currently fewer than 100  diplomates of the AVDC worldwide. There is now also a European Veterinary Dental College.

Dr. Hale graduated from the Ontario Veterinary College in 1984. He worked as an associate in a small animal hospital in Scarborough for five years, where his interest in veterinary dentistry first began. In 1988, he joined the American Veterinary Dental Society (the only requirement of membership being the annual dues) and began to attend continuing education programs on the subject.

In 1989, he moved to Fergus, to be the small animal veterinarian in a mixed practice. The practice had virtually no dental equipment, so he bought his own and was soon doing two to three dental procedures per day (still pretty basic stuff).

In the spring of 1991, Dr. Hale left general practice and started a mobile veterinary dental referral service, traveling to clinics around southern Ontario to provide in-house dental care.

In 1994, Dr. Hale passed the credentials and examination process for the Academy of Veterinary Dentistry, becoming the first Fellow of the Academy in Ontario and the third in Canada. He served for three years on the examination committee for the Academy and chaired the committee in 1997. He has and continues to serve the Academy on various committees (chairing several) and terms on the Board of Directors as Secretary.

Also in 1994, Dr. Hale took his practice off the road and set-up a stationary office at a general practice in Guelph. In 2003, Dr. Hale opened Hale Veterinary Clinic, Canada's first dental-only veterinary practice.

In 1997, Dr. Hale passed the credentials criteria and the qualifying examination for the American Veterinary Dental College (again, the first in Ontario and the third in Canada). Since then, he has served on the examination committee for the AVDC and was the chair of the committee for the year 2000. He has been chair of the Review and Assessment Committee and has served on/chaired and number of committees and continues to do so.

Hale Veterinary Clinic is Canada's first dental-only veterinary facility. While most small animal practices offer some dental services, this is the first clinic that does nothing but dental and oral surgery (there is now another dental-only clinic in Vancouver).

Dr. Hale works voluntarily for several dental organizations (as outlined above) in various capacities.

His other passions include fly-fishing and fly-tying. He is lucky to live a few blocks from southern Ontario’s best fly-fishing river (the Grand). He has volunteered for Friends of the Grand River, helping with the annual stocking program, research projects, habitat improvement and fund-raising. He has served terms on the Board of Directors as Secretary.

Dr Hale is also a runner and has competed in a few marathons as well as several shorter races. He runs for the Guelph Victors  and is a member of a relay team known as the Chariots for Hire.

Dr. Hale is married (since 1981), with a son in the Royal Canadian Dragoons in Petawawa, a daughter at the University of Guelph in Animal Biology and two Siamese cats (Daisy and Dill Pickles). Nicholas (pictured above) passed away in January 2000 at the age of 18.