1970s veterinary care

In the 1970s I loved reading about the life and work of the Yorkshire vet James Herriott, always looking through the shelves of the local library for the latest book. This book is the same genre but instead of being set in Yorkshire it's set in a very upmarket area of Knightsbridge in London. Here in the early 1970s we meet Bruce Fogle, (father of the TV presenter Ben Fogle), newly qualified and from Toronto, Canada, he arrives in Knightsbridge thinking that he knew how British people behaved and cared about their pets but very soon he finds out that this is not always the case. From visiting the home of a prostitute in Soho to patch up her dobermans, to an influential lady in the Kennel Club, who is not keen on new technology, he finds that the area is home to all sorts. In those days the large department store Harrods had it's own pet shop and not just puppies and kittens but lions and alligators were sold there too and they all needed a vet to visit to make sure all was well with them. It just seems so incredible that this happened then but this was the 1970s and life was so much different then and this shows in so much of this book. Also there are the circus animals, in the 1970s it was common to have animals performing and they too had there fair share of ailments.

This book will make you both happy and sad, make you wonder and stop and think and be star struck all at the same time, as Bruce meets celebrities all the time. When he meets up with his future wife I found the story to be very engaging and all the time the animals are there too, with their ailments and some are hilarious and some are very sad, but all in all a very readable book.