Vet to open new Shropshire practice for exotic animals - with re-assuring message to locals
A Shropshire vet who has spent the last 20 years treating everything from lions and tigers to sick parrots in the nation's zoos and safari parks is opening a new exotic referral practice in the county.
Marie Kubiak had always wanted to work with animals but the graduate of Bristol University never thought she'd spend he career working with wild animals in zoos.
She said: “I was an animal lover when I was growing up but what I really wanted to be was a horse vet.
“But in my third year at university, my mentor needed to get rid of some snakes as he was moving – they were just common snakes and not venomous, so I said I'd take them and found them fascinating. Then in my final year I got an internship at Paignton Zoo where I shadowed the vet there and I loved it.”
She said since graduating she has worked for a number of zoos and parks, including West Midlands Safari Park.
“I've treated everything from ants, rodents and parrots to lions and tigers," she said. "Actually, it is not that much different to being a regular vet as treating a tiger, for instance, is actually not that much different to treating a house cat. Obviously, they are a lot larger and we have to use darts before treating them.”
