Vet clinic's fate still uncertain

The fate of a Masterton veterinary clinic is yet to be decided after a hearing to determine an application for liquidation was delayed this week.

An application to put Vet Care Ltd into liquidation was filed at the High Court in Masterton by the Commissioner of Inland Revenue on August 31.

Originally the application hearing was to be heard at the High Court in Wellington on Monday but that was adjourned until October 10.

Records held by the Companies Office show that the Chapel St veterinary clinic is owned by Masterton couple Heidi Ward-McGrath and her husband Mark McGrath.

Mrs Ward-McGrath sprang to fame in 2003 when she was awarded the title of Ernst & Young New Zealand Young Entrepreneur.

Since then she has also appeared at business conferences as a motivational speaker.

A High Court spokeswoman said because the papers had been filed at Masterton there was a chance the matter could not be heard at Wellington.

The judge hearing the case was to review the facts and make a ruling on the legality of the application before the next court date, she said.

The lawyer for Inland Revenue, Wendy Luxford, said she could not comment on any of the case facts due to the laws surrounding taxation privacy.

Mrs Ward-McGrath did not return calls from the Times-Age.