Dr. Rutherford graduated from the University of Glasgow in 2001 and his first job was as a Temporary Veterinary Inspector during the Foot and Mouth Epidemic. He then spent six years in general practice, both mixed and small animal including a stint in New Zealand, before moving to Croft Veterinary Hospital in Northumberland to undertake an ECVS Residency. Dr. Rutherford completed the RCVS Certificate in Small Animal Surgery in 2009, became a EBVS Specialist in Small Animal Surgery in 2013 and an RCVS Recognised Specialist in 2014. 

Dr. Rutherford spent the next four and half years in multidisciplinary referral hospitals first at North Downs Specialist Referrals and then Willows Referral Services. He left Willows in 2017 to open a surgical referral hospital with a difference. This resulted in frank. Pet Surgeons. in Leeds, United Kingdom. which has now become part of IVC Evidensia. 

He has just accepted a faculty position at The Ohio State University and will be moving there in early 2026