A journey almost halfway around the world ended with the opening of a new veterinary clinic in Beauly.
Highland Health Veterinary Care is based in the former Bank of Scotland offices on High Street and is the brainchild of South African veterinarian Dominic Baranska. She hopes to offer not only holistic medical care, but also acupuncture and veterinary herbal medicine.
A board-certified dermatologist, she strives for expert status and provides additional advice to her clients.
The new venture will be a completely independent business and will be staffed by Dominique and her own hand-picked team of experts.
However, the path to her current dream job was not an easy one.
Her Polish parents fled their homeland due to political instability and set up home in South Africa, where their daughter was born.
Dominic, who loved animals, dreamed of becoming a veterinarian, but the political situation in his homeland made that impossible, and since he already had an older sister in Aviemore, Dominic, who was 17 years old, had dreams of becoming a veterinarian. When arrived in Scotland. And she has 300 pounds in her pocket.
While earning a living by doing various jobs at the resort, including training as a lifeguard, she began studying for an animal nursing assistant course in hopes of entering the world of veterinary medicine. She applied for the position of Associate Nurse at Veterinary Surgery in Inverness and was delighted that she was offered the job and began her professional journey.
Unable to afford veterinary school fees in Scotland, he embarked on a degree in veterinary medicine at the University of Life Sciences in Warsaw, graduating in 2014.
Retracing her steps, she returned to Scotland and held various veterinary jobs before returning to the Highlands.
Now with husband Lukasz and daughter Lilianna, the family settled in Knockfarrell five years ago.
“Lockdown has had a devastating impact on all veterans’ practices, and despite our best efforts, the pressures have become too great and we are severely under pressure to not have enough time to attend to all the additional patients. I felt guilty,” she explained.
Throughout my career, I studied acupuncture and dermatology, both of which I self-funded, and set up my own business, acupetvetscotland, from my home.
She added: “During lockdown the number of pets increased significantly and many clinics were overwhelmed. I wanted to help more and be a part of the pets’ lives. We care for everyone. I would like to do so.
“I can’t stop thinking about how wonderfully people have treated me. They help me set up the facility, they paint, I design, they run errands for me. Lucas does the construction work. I have been watching it professionally.
“The people of the Highlands were wonderful people, and by caring for them and their animals, my team and I hope to give back in some small way to that kind spirit.”
Highland Health Veterinary Care (Dominique emphasizes the importance of the word “care”) will open in June, with an opening weekend scheduled before then.
“We want everyone to take a look around and see what we can offer to people and pets alike,” Dominic said.
Her website (www.highlandhealthvets.co.uk) will go live on April 25th and an open weekend is planned for people to visit from June 7th to 8th.
