Persistence pays off – the story of Dr. Peter Stewart

Dr. Peter Stewart had always wanted to become a veterinarian, because that was his father’s profession. That was all he knew, and his father taught him many things from a very early age.

Dr Stewart’s parents moved to the United Kingdom during World War II. Before that, his father was studying Veterinary Medicine in Lwów, where coincidentally the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences has roots too. 

During the war Dr. Peter Stewart’s father joined the a Polish division (307 division) of the Royal Air Force. After the Allied victory, he decided to finish his studies in the UK, since a lot of universities opened up faculties for Polish people. And so, Dr Stewart’s father graduated from Edinburgh Veterinary School, moved to Wolverhampton, then to Dudley, changed his surname from Słuszkiewicz to Stewart ( in those post war days it was easier to find work with an English name) and ended up starting his own Veterinary practice as well as being the vet at Dudley Zoo. 

Dr. Peter Stewart naturally wanted to follow in his footsteps. He applied to university to study Veterinary Medicine, but unfortunately, he didn’t get in on the first try. So Dr. Stewart decided to study Agriculture instead. – I finished my Agriculture degree on the understanding that I would then transfer to study Veterinary Medicine. But at the ripe old age of 23, I was deemed to be too old… But I think that was just an excuse anyway –  he laughs. 

Then, during a Christmas party with some Polish family friends, Dr. Peter Stewart found out about the possibility of studying in Poland. And so, he decided to give Veterinary Medicine in Poland a go. The only problem was that he didn’t know the language well enough, so he started his new adventure with a Polish course.

– In those days, the universities didn't have English divisions, so I only had the option to study in Polish. That's why before starting university, I went on a year-long Polish course to Kraków, and to be perfectly honest, I think I learnt more spoken Polish just by living and interacting with Polish people. It was good fun however, and I got to travel to Russia and other eastern bloc countries. I later chose to study in Wrocław since my aunt and uncle lived close by in Oleśnica, and I really liked the city – he says.

His persistence paid off, and after finally getting his master’s degree in Veterinary Medicine in 1983, Dr. Peter Stewart decided to move back to the UK and help with the veterinary practice at Dudley Zoo, which he and his wife eventually took over.

– We started off as a small animal practice, and eventually My wife and I built the practice up to be small animal, exotic and Zoo animal orientated. We even opened another branch. So I was basically the zoo vet from around 1984 to present day – says Dr. Peter Stewart, adding that he loves this job to this day, even though it was tough at times, being on call 24/7. 

– It’s an exciting job, you never know what will happen. Over the years we’ve had so many both funny and scary situations, that it’s hard to recall them all. But I remember the time we had a snow leopard and sea lion escape. On separate occasions of course, but it was quite funny getting phone calls about a sea lion “walking” down the street. Luckily we stopped both animals before anybody was harmed – says Dr. Stewart. – I also had a face to face with a tiger after his sedation wore off a little too soon, while I was still in the process of taking blood samples – he adds, saying that although it is a dangerous animal, a tiger is not in fact the most difficult patient to deal with for a zoo vet. 

– In my opinion that title goes to the giraffe, because you can't really get near them. They do appear quite friendly if you’re feeding them, but can become quite unpredictable once you get too close. Health and safety regulations don’t allow us to go into the enclosures anymore, so sedating a giraffe from afar is tricky. We need to make sure they don’t seriously injure themselves when they fall. That’s why we’d usually stack hay around their enclosures. Fortunately, they weren’t often in need of serious hands-on veterinary care – says the veterinarian.

Elephants supposedly, as big as they might be, are quite good patients. Dr Stewart names their keeper, as the one responsible for that, since he’s the one who trained them to handle getting injections and blood work, etc. without putting them to sleep. And surprisingly, chimpanzees are not as sweet and innocent as they look.

– They're very dangerous , and while they appear cheeky and friendly, they're false. You should never, ever trust a chimp, ever. They might kill you as soon as they get a chance – warns Dr. Peter Stewart, adding that other apes are nicer to work with, such as gorillas and orangutans which tended to be calmer, although still very dangerous, which the vet calls a bit silly,– They're always covering themselves with a sack or bale of straw or something – he laughs.

Dr. Peter Stewart sold the veterinary practice in 2020, and after working there for another 18 months, he decided to retire. Although Dr. Stewart spent most of his life in the UK, he has a lot of ties with Poland. He has family here, his wife is Polish and visits the country often. He also has friends in Wrocław and at the University. It was one of them, Prof. Artur Niedźwiedź, who contacted Dr. Stewart, and invited him to teach a course on exotic animal medicine. Thus, after nearly 40 years, Dr. Peter Stewart has returned to his alma mater, to pass on his knowledge to the next generation of veterinarians. 

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