Buddy...Just One of the Creatures Great and Small

This is a wonderful selection to truly illustrate the joy of animal friends and the dedicated man who cared for them, as well as their owners...
All Creatures Great and Small
A Review by Rosanne Welch
You don't have to be a future veterinarian to appreciate James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small. You just have to be human. That was the key to Herriot's sixty year success in the field he so loved. Whether it was secretly replacing an elderly woman's dead parakeet or putting down an expensive race horse, Herriot treated his patients and their owners with respect and dignity.
In college in the early 1930's a teacher once told the young student, "If you decide to become a veterinary surgeon you will never grow rich but you will have a life of endless interest and variety," and this proves a fair review of All Creatures. It is based on the diaries Herriot kept as a young veterinarian working in the Yorkshire Dales and is filled with many interesting aspects of early veterinary medicine. It is also chock full of a variety of every day experiences, vividly brought to life.
All Creatures begins with Herriot's first interview out of college for the position he so desperately wanted as assistant to Siegfried Farnon. Siegfried is enthusiastic about all the new medical practices, from vaccinations to cow cesareans, and is pleased to have Herriot aboard. The book follows their exploits and mishaps while introducing us to a myriad of colorful characters, some human, some not. Siegfried's younger brother, Tristan, frequently fails his exams at veterinary college even though he is preordained to share his brother's practice. His favorite pastimes are sleeping and "popping by the pub of an evening," but you can always count on him when an animal is in distress. Herriot's favorite client soon becomes Mrs. Pumphrey, a rich widow who pampers her precious Pekingese, Tricky Woo, by overfeeding him and who pays Herriot back with little gifts of cigars and kippers and thank you notes signed by her dog.
Once Herriot masters the names of all the local farmers and their amazingly varied accents, he's only halfway there. Siegfried's genuine desire to see his new assistant "settle down" leads to Herriot's first date with his future wife, Helen Alderson, where everything that can go wrong does. As an author, Herriot doesn't flinch at recalling the details in any of his failures, socially or professionally. All Creatures reads as a wonderful combination of history and romance, full of wit and packed with personalities.

This review and more information about the author can be found at the following web address: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/3907/herriot.html

Let me introduce you to our little guy "Buddy". He has been with us for over six years now and has been the source of so much joy. You see when we rescued Buddy he was malnourished, and had been abused. His owner had taken a lighter to his right ear and burned about an inch off.

He had a horrible life his first 18 months but that has all changed. He is no longer malnourished as you can see. But as a result of his tragic beginning he has asthma, a thyroid condition, and a heart murmur. We have had great Veterinarians and Buddy is a very happy camper these days.

(And we are affectionately considered his support staff!) He is a 48 lb. Blue Tick Beagle but we are certain it's because he has at least 45lbs of HEART! I suspect he's had it with my photo op and is anxious to go outside. If he could talk he'd probably say, "Enough already I want to go play, visit the other neighborhood dogs, and I'm tired of waiting!"
I have no idea how anyone can mistreat animals.
They are God's creatures too and deserve to be cared for.

Please help end senseless abuse of animals.

Here are a few websites that may shed light on what we can do:

http://www.hsus.org/

http://www.animalfair.com/aboutus_contact.html


http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=3