Arra Veterinary Clinic
O’Brien St., Tipperary
062 31439
Meet Mairead!
Mairead Leahy is the ultimate animal lover! With a passion for horses since childhood, she spent all of her free time growing up riding horses, or getting as close to them as possible! While she didn’t have a horse of her own, she spent most of her time on neighbours farms, mucking out stables, caring for the animals and stealing a horse riding treat as often as she could!
It was therefore no surprise that she decided that Veterinary medicine was the path for her. She was the only girl in her secondary school class to opt for this career. However, the split in her college class was 70:30 in favour of girls, so while its not a career for the faint hearted, there are plenty of women stepping up to the challenge in recent years!
Mairead graduated in 2012 from UCD, and started her career in the Burren, Co Clare, in a large animal practice looking after predominantly farm animals. It was extremely busy and Mairead once delivered 10 calves by Ceasarian Sections in one weekend!
The Business
While she has always loved working with large animals, when she embraced the opportunity to take over Arra Veterinary clinic in Tipperary Town in 2015, she decided to dedicate her practice to small animals, where the care and attention in which Mairead specialises, is matched by the ownes love for their pets! Her dog Milo is CEO and PR manager, with a warm welcome for each patient on their arrival!
The clinic boasts an all-female staff, Mariead along with Aine Condon, both qualified Vets, Elaine Smyth is the practice nurse, and Sandra looks after the grooming side of the business!
Mairead excels in her patient care; she is dedicated to being there for her clients, providing a 24 hour service for, not just emergencies, but every worry that comes with caring for animals.
Whether it is a query on general health, an injury or an illness, no problem is too trivial for Mairead and her team.
Services include :
- Grooming – small, large and giant breeds.
- Acupuncture – Mairead qualified in animal acupuncture last year and it is becoming a very popular treatment in the clinic.
- Cat Boarding incl full health checks
- In house Blood testing, xraying and scanning
- Dental Care
- 24 hour emergency cover
But it is ultimately the caring and sympathetic manner of Mairead and the team that bring animal owners from across the county and beyond to Arra Veterinary Clinic.
Every patient is treated like family as soon as they come through the door!
They provide Free Nurse clinics, giving advice and support for owners of new puppies, rescue pets, senior pets and much more.
A Big Heart
Arra Vets regularly work with retired and unloved greyhounds and lurchers, providing full spaying (and after-care) services and helping to rehome those that are no longer ‘fit-for-purpose’!
With so many greyhounds presented each year to clinics around the country to be destroyed, from as young as 18 months, Mairead and the team are doing their bit to help save these beautiful gentle dogs. They provide a re-homing package that is subsidised by the Greyhound Board, to cover neutering, vaccinations and provision of a passport for the greyhounds to send them to new homes in Italy!
Mairead believes that the plight of greyhounds and lurchers need to be highlighted to change the public perception of them as muzzled one-dimensional animals, bred for racing and coursing.
Arra Veterinary Clinic continually fundraise for stray pets, so that they can provide emergency care for wounded animals and help to re home them. They also host the annual Christmas campaign where Santa Paws comes to Tipp town to meet all the local pets! For €5 per pet, they receive a goody bag and a photo with all proceeds going to help the stray and abandoned pets in the town!
Pet Welfare is always at the forefront of Maireads mind and,she and Milo regularly visit local schools educating children on looking after their pets, to help avoid problems down the line!
Media
Mairead believes that social media, from whatsapp to facebook, has been invaluable in developing her business. It keeps the lines of communication open for acute worries, aftercare queries or just to schedule appointments!
Arra Vets’ facebook page is engaging and informative, keeping the public up to date on animal welfare, care tips and all the fun and activity within the busy practice. Education is power when caring for your pets!
www.facebook.com/arravetclinic
They look forward to launching their new-look website in April – www.arraveterinaryclinic.com
Don’t just take our word for it!:
Very professional and caring service …….. My cat Missy was in great hands here and received the very best of care. I would highly recommend…. the girls couldn’t do enough for you and are very accommodating – Laura
Mairead and the staff are lovely and kind to all the animals and give 100% care to the furbabies and very reassuring to the owners and always makes time to answer one’s questions – Annemarie
Thank you for the care you give to my rescued and retired greyhounds; they are now enjoying a happy family life in Italy! Very professional and caring vet! – Lilian
