Review: Call the Vet

Call the Vet by Bruce Fogle
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Ever since I read James Herriot’s books as a child, I’ve always enjoyed reading vet’s accounts of their work. I would say that, on balance, this is more towards the autobiography side, than the account of veterinary work.

It took me a while to get into this book. To start with, I found the use of tenses confusing. The whole book takes place in the 1970s, but it kept switching from present to past tense, and back. Either this improves as the book went on, or I became used to it, as it stopped bothering me from about half way through. 

I enjoyed reading this account of the author’s life in the early 1970s. It contains just enough of the animals to keep it interesting to me. I appreciated the candour and honesty when mentioning the ethical side of a vet’s job, at the time. It’s interesting to compare that to current times, and see the improvements that have happened in animal behavioural science, especially.

The book also paints a picture of 1970s London as the background. I’m not particularly interested in this, so I occasionally found it a little tedious. However, if you are interested in recent history, this will add to your enjoyment.

Overall, I felt this was an honest look at a snippet of historical veterinary work, with plenty of interest from different aspects.

I was given a free copy of this book, my opinions are my own.

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