A new Beauly veterinary surgery is about to open following a journey almost halfway around the world.
South African vet Dominique Baranska and her husband, Lukasz Baranski, will run Highland Health Veterinary Centre.
The new practice will be based in the former Bank of Scotland building on High Street.
Its owners will run it alongside team of professionals.
They aim to offer comprehensive medical treatments and acupuncture as well as veterinary herbal medicine.
Beauly vets is ‘dream come true’
Mrs Baranska has not had an easy journey to Beauly as she steps into the career of her dreams.
Her Polish parents fled their homeland to South Africa, where she was born.
She arrived in Scotland as a 17-year-old, with the dream of becoming a vet and £300.
“My sister came to Scotland to earn some money for a house in South Africa and ended up staying, she said.
She added: “I came over to visit initially, but with my ambition of being a vet realised thought it might be easier to stay.
“At the time, it was quite hard to become a vet in South Africa for me.
“White women weren’t easily accepted into higher education.
“I’m already a vet, so opening my own practice is over and above the dream.”
Her first role in veterinary medicine as as an assistant nurse in an Inverness practice.
Unable to afford the school fees in Scotland, she graduated as a qualified vet from the University of Life Sciences in Warsaw.
After returning to Scotland and positions at several vet practices, she arrived back in the Highlands five years ago.
She said she can’t get over the help she has been offered.
People have been quick to help get the premises ready and run errands.
Mrs Baranska, who also owns Accupet Vet Scotland, added: “The people of the Highlands have been marvelous.
“I hope in some small way my team and I can repay that kindness of spirit by looking after both them and their animals.”
She is is also a certified dermatologist and working towards specialist status.
Offering a personal connection is key, vet says
Beauly’s new vet is keen to ensure clients are well-connected and involved, and she said she had already seen a “brilliant response”.
She added: ” I think people want to be part of the vets, part of the family – it’s important.
“It’s the way practices used to be run, when you had a personal relationship with everyone involved.
“I’ll also, hopefully, be able to help other 17-year-olds realise and reach their dreams — it would be my biggest accomplishment.
“To know it doesn’t just end with my story but also offers a lifeline for others would be amazing.”
She and her husband have a six-year-old daughter, Lilyanna, as well as two dogs named Promil and Waffle.
Highland Health Veterinary Centre to help ease pressure post lockdowns
Mrs Baranski said Covid lockdowns had a “devastating” effect on all vets’ practices.
She hopes to remove some of the pressure with her new clinic.
“I found the pressure becoming too great,” she said, adding: “I felt terribly guilty not having enough time to deal with all the additional clients.
“The pet population increased significantly… and many practices were overwhelmed.
“I wanted to try to help, do more and become part of pets’ lives.”
The vets in Beauly will launch its website on April 25 and is aiming to open on the weekend of June 7-8.
Conversation