Vet in a Spin Read online

morning," he said.

  "But like you, I haven't been able to get near him."

  "Yes, it's st range. He's obviously friendly, yet he's afraid. I

  wonder who owns him."

  "I reckon he's a stray, Mr Herriot. I'm interested in dogs myself and

  I fancy I know just about all of them around here. But this 'un's a st

  ranger to me."

  I nodded.

  "I bet you're right. So anything could have happened to him. He could

  have been ill-treated by somebody and run away, or he could have been

  dumped from a car."

  "Yes," he replied 'there's some lovely people around. It beats me how

  anybody can leave a helpless animal to fend for itself like that. I've

  had a few goes at catching him myself but it's no good."

  The memory stayed with me for the rest of the day and even when I lay

  in bed that night I was unable to dispel the disturbing image of the

  little brown i. creature wandering in a st range world, sit ting up

  asking for help in the only ~ way he knew.

  little brown sheepdog, but there's a touch of ~_ I was still a bachelor

  at that time and on the Friday night of the same w Siegfried and I were

  arraying ourselves in evening dress in preparation for Hunt Ball at

  East Hirdsley, about ten miles away.

  It was a tortuous business because those were the days of starched

  shirt fronts' and stiff high collars and I kept hearing explosions of

  colourful language from Siegfried's room as he wrestled with his

  studs.

  I was in an even worse plight because I had outgrown my suit and even

  when I had managed to secure the st rangling collar I had to fight my

  way into dinner jacket which nipped me cruelly under the arms. I had

  just managed don the complete outfit and was trying out a few careful

  breaths when the phone.

  rang.

  It was the same young policeman I had been speaking to earlier in the

  we "We've got that dog round here, Mr Herriot. You know the one that

  begging in the market place."

  "Oh yes? Somebody's managed to catch him then?"

  There was a pause.

  "No, not really. One of our men found him Lying by roadside about a

  mile out of town and brought him in. He's been in an accident' I told

  Siegfried. He looked at his watch.

  "Always happens, doesn't it, Jam Just when we're ready to go out. It's

  nine o'clock now and we should be on e way." He thought for a

  moment.

  "Anyway, slip round there and have a look a I'll wait for you. It

  would be better if we could go to this affair together."

  As I drove round to the Police Station I hoped fervently that there

  would be much to do. This Hunt Ball meant a lot to my boss because it

  would b' gather ing of the horse-loving fraternity of the district and

  he would have a wonderful time just chatting and drinking with so many

  kindred spirits e' though he hardly danced at all. Also, he

  maintained, it was good for business to meet the clients socially.

  The kennels were at the bottom of a yard behind the Station and the

  policeman led me down and opened one of the doors. The little dog was

  Lying very still under the single electric bulb and when I bent and

  stroked the brown coat I tail stirred briefly among the straw of his

  bed.

  "He can still manage a way, anyway," I said.

  The policeman nodded.

  "Aye, there's no doubt he's a good-natured little thing I tried to

  examine him as much as possible without touching. I didn't want to

  hurt him and there was no saying what the extent of his injuries might

  But even at a glance cert ain things were obvious; he had multiple

  lacerations one hind leg was crooked in the unmistakable posture of a

  fracture and there.

  was blood on his lips.

  This could be from damaged teeth and I gently raised the head with a

  vie to loo king into his mouth. He was Lying on his right side and as

  the head cad.

  round it was as though somebody had struck me in the face.

  The right eye had been violently dislodged from its socket and it

  spouted like some hideous growth from above the cheek bone, a great

  glistening orb with t eyelids tucked behind the white expanse of

  sclera.

  I seemed to squat there for a long time, stunned by the obscenity, and

  as seconds dragged by I looked into the little dog's face and he looked

  back at me.

  - trustingly from one soft brown eye, glaring meaninglessly from the

  grotesque ball on the other side. '~ The policeman's voice broke my

  thoughts.

  "He's a mess, isn't he?" )~ "Yes ... yes ... must have been struck by

  some vehicle maybe dragged.

  along by the look of all those wounds." ~ "What d'you think, Mr Her

  riot?" -~l I knew what he meant. It was the sensible shine to ease

  this lost unwa.

  creature from the world. He was grievously hurt and he didn't seem to

  b. l ver tn a ~pin to anybody A quick overdose of anaesthetic his

  troubles would be over and I'd be on my way to the dance.

  But the policeman didn't say anything of the sort. Maybe, like me, he

  was loo king into the soft depths of that one trusting eye.

  I stood up quickly.

  "Can I use your phone?"

  At the other end of the line Siegfried's voice crackled with

  impatience.

  "Hell JameS, it's half-past nine! If we're going to this thing we've

  got to go now or we might as well not bother. A stray dog, badly

  injured. Ii doesn't sound such a great problem."

  "I know, Siegfried. I'm sorry to hold you up but I can't make up my

  mind.

  I wish you'd come round and tell me what you think."

  There was a silence then a long sigh.

  "All right, James. See you in five minutes."

  He created a slight stir as he entered the Station. Even in his casual

  working clothes Siegfried al ways managed to look distinguished, but as

  he swept into the station newly bathed and shaved, a camel coat thrown

  over the sparkling white shirt and black tie there was something ducal

  about him.

  He drew respectful glances from the men sit ting around, then my young

  policeman stepped forward.

  "This way, sir' he said, and we went back to the kennels.

  Siegfried was silent as he crouched over the dog, loo king him over as

  I had done without touching him. Then he carefully raised the head and

  the monstrous eye glared.

  "My God!" he said softly, and at the sound of his voice the long

  fringed tail moved along the ground.

  For a few seconds he stayed very still loo king fixedly at the dog's

  face while in the silence, the whisking tail rustled the straw.

  Then he straightened up.

  "Let's get him round there," he murmured.

  In the surgery we anaesthetised the little animal and as he lay

  unconscious on the table we were able to examine him thoroughly. After

  a few minutes Siegfried stuffed his stethoscope into the pocket of his

  white coat and leaned both hands on the table.

  "Luxated eyeball, fractured femur, umpteen deep lacerations, broken

  claws.

  There's enough here to keep us going til
l midnight, James."

  I didn't say anything.

  My boss pulled the knot from his black tie and undid the front stud. He

  peeled off the stiff collar and hung it on the cross bar of the surgery

  lamp.

  "By God, that's better," he muttered, and began to lay out suture

  materials.

  I looked at him across the table.

  "How about the Hunt Ball?"

  "Oh bugger the Hunt Ball," Siegfried said.

  "Let's get busy."

  We were busy, too, for a long time. I hung up my collar next to my

  colleague's and we began on the eye. I know we both felt the same we

  wanted to get rid of that horror before we did anything else.

  I lubricated the great ball and pulled the eyelids apart while

  Siegfried gently manoeuvred it back into the orbital cavity. I sighed

  as every thing slid out of Sight, leaving only the cornea visible.

  Siegfried chuckled with satisfaction.

  "Looks like an eye again, doesn't it." He Seized an ophthalmoscope and

  peered into the depths.

  "And there's no major damage could be as good as new again. But we'll

  just Stitch the lids together to protect it for a few days."

  The broken ends of the fractured tibia were badly displaced and we had

  a Struggle to bring them into apposition before applying the plaster of

  parts.

  But at last we finished and started on the long job of stitching the

  many cuts and lacerations We worked separately for this, and for a long

  time it was quiet in the operating room except for the snip of scissors

  as we clipped the brown hair away from t.

  wounds, I knew and Siegfried knew that we were almost certainly working

  without payment, but the most disturbing thought was that after all our

  efforts we might still have to put him down. He was still in the care

  of the police and if nobody claimed him within ten days it meant

  euthanasia. And if his la.

  owners were really interested in his fate, why hadn't they tried to

  contact the police before now . . . :; By the time we had completed

  our work and washed the instruments it w' after midnight. Siegfried

  dropped the last suture needle into its tray and looked at the sleeping

  animal. ;.

  "I think he's beginning to come round," he said.

  "Let's take him through to t.

  fire and we can have a drink while he recovers." .

  We stretchered the dog through to the sit ting-room on a blanket and

  laid him .

  on the rug before the brightly burning coals. My colleague reached a

  long an up to the glass-fronted cabinet above the mantelpiece and

  pulled down the.

  whisky bottle and two glasses. Drinks in hand, collarless, still in

  shirt sleeves.

  with our starched white fronts and braided evening trousers to remind

  us of the lost dance we lay back in our chairs on either side of the

  fireplace and between us our patient stretched peacefully.

  He was a happier sight now. (one eye was closed by the protecting

  stitch and his hind leg projected stiffly in its white cast, but he was

  tidy, cleaned u cared for. He look as though he belonged to somebody

  but then there was great big doubt about that.

  It was nearly one o'clock in the morning and we were get ting well down

  t.

  bottle when the shaggy brown head began to move. , Siegfried leaned

  forward and touched one of the ears and immediately the tail flapped

  against the rug and a pink tongue lazily licked his fingers.

  "What an absolutely grand little dog," he murmured, but his voice had,

  al4o "What^~ I knew wh;~ creature from the `, .

  distant quality. I knew he was worried too. ..` l I took the stiches

  out of the eyelids in two days and was delighted to find normal eye

  underneath. ~) The young policeman was as pleased as I was.

  "Look at that!" he exclaimed. "You'd never know anything had happened

  there." ?t'3 "Yes, it's done wonderfully well. All the swelling and

  inflammation has gone I hesitated for a moment.

  "Has anybody enquired about him?"

  He shook his head.

  "No thing yet. But there's another eight days to go we're taking good

  care of him here." ~: :j~ I visited the Police Station several times

  and the little animal greeted me undisguised joy, all his fear gone,

  stan ding upright against my legs on plastered limb, his tail

  swishing.

  But all the time my sense of foreboding increased, and on the tenth d;

  made my way almost with dread to the police kennels. I had heard

  nothing.

  - action seemed inevitable. Putting down old or hopelessly ill dogs ~t

  of mercy but when it was a young healthy dog it was terrible it was one

  of the things veterinary surgeons had to do. ~ 'policeman was stan

  ding in the doorway. $?"

  I asked, and he shook his head.

  into the kennel and the shaggy little creature stood up ag' laughing

  into my face, mouth open, eyes shining. ~ ickly. I'd have to do this

  right now or I'd never do it. :i ~policeman put his hand on my arm.

  "I think I'll take ~ Vet in a Spin ~Aye, that's right. We get a lot o'

  stray dogs in here and though I feel sorry ~or them you can't give them

  all a home, can you?"

  '~o you can't," I said.

  "I have the same problem."

  He nodded slowly.

  "But somehow this 'un's different, and it seems to me he's 'just come

  at the right time. I have two little girls and they've been at me for

  a J it to get 'em a dog. This little bloke looks just right for the

  job."

  Warm relief began to ebb through me.

  "I couldn't agree more. He's the soul of good nature. I bet he'll be

  wonderful with children."

  "Good. That's settled then. I thought I'd ask your advice first." He

  smiled happily I looked at him as though I had never seen him before,

  "What's your name?"

  "Phelps," he replied.

  "PC Phelps."

  He was a good-loo king young fellow, clear-skinned, with cheerful blue

  eyes and a solid dependable look about him. I had to fight against an

  impulse to wring his hand and thump him on the back. But I managed to

  preserve the professional exterior.

  "Well, that's fine." I bent and stroked the little dog.

  "Don't forget to bring him along to the surgery in ten days for removal

  of the stitches, and we'll have to get that plaster off in about a

  month."

  It was Siegfried who took out the stitches, and I didn't see our

  patient again until four weeks later.

  PC Phelps had his little girls, aged four and six, with him as well as

  the dog.

  "You said the plaster ought to come off about now," he said, and I

  nodded.

  He looked down at the children.

  "Well, come on, you two, lift him on the table."

  Eagerly the little girls put their arms around their new pet and as

  they hoisted him the tail wagged furiously and the wide mouth panted in

  delight.

  "Looks as though he's been a success," I said.

  He smiled.

  "That's an understatement. He's perfect with these two. I can't tell

  you what pleasure he's give
n us. He's one of the family."

  I got out my little saw and began to hack at the plaster.

  "It's worked both ways, I should say. A dog loves a secure home."

  "Well, he couldn't be more secure." He ran his hand along the brown

  coat and laughed as he addressed the little dog.

  "That's what you get for begging among the stalls on market day, my

  lad. You're in the hands of the law now."

  Chapter Eight when I entered the RAF I had a secret fear. All my life

  I have suffered from ~vertigo and even now I have only to look down

  from the smallest height to be engulfed by that dreadful dizziness and

  panic. What would I feel, then, when [started to fly?

  As it turned out, I felt nothing. I could gaze downwards from the open

  cockpit through thousands of feet of space without a qualm, so my fear

  was groundless.

  ._ ~ I had my fears in veterinary practice, too, and in the early days

  the thing l whiCh raised the greatest terror in my breast was the

  Ministry of Agriculture.

  C! OpIT' :~ An extraordinary statement, perhaps, but true. It was the

  clerical sidejj.

  scared me all those forms. As to the practical Ministry work itself, I

  fdd all modesty that I was quite good at it. My thoughts often turned

  back to a~ tuberculin testing I used to do clipping a clean little area

  from just the place in the cow's neck, inserting the needle into the

  thickness of the skin ~ injecting one tenth of a c.c. of tuberculin.

  ,"

  It was on Mr Hill's farm, and I watched the satisfactory intradermal ~

  rise up under my needle. That was the way it should be, and when it

  came} like that you knew you were really doing your job and testing the

  animal] tuberculosis.

  "That 'un's number 65," the farmer said, then a slightly injured look

  sp~ over his face as I checked the number in the ear. .:l "You're was

  tin' your time, Mr Herriot. I 'ave the whole list, all in t'cor

  order. Wrote it out special for you so you could take it away with

  you."

  I had my doubts. All farmers were convinced that their herd records v

  flawless but I had been caught out before. I seemed to have the gift

  of ma king every possible clerical mistake and I didn't need any help

  from the farmers But still . . . it was tempting. I looked at the

  long list of figures dangling from the horny fingers. If I accepted it

  I would save a lot of time. There were more than fifty animals to test

  here and I had to get through two more h.

  before lunch time.

  I looked at my watch. Damn! I was well behind my programme and I fdt

  old stab of frustration.

  "Right, Mr Hill, I'll take it and thank you very much." I stuffed the

  she.

  paper into my pocket and began to move along the byre, clipping and

  injec at top speed.

  A week later the dread words leaped out at me from the open day book.

  "E

  Thin." The cryptic phrase in Miss Harbottle's writing had the power to

  fn my blood quicker than anything else. It meant simply that I had to

  telept the Ministry of Agriculture office, and whenever our secretary

  wrote those w' in the book it meant that I was in trouble again. I

  extended a trembling h towards the receiver. s As al ways, Kitty

  Pattison answered my call and I could detect the note of in her voice.

  She was the attractive girl in charge of the office staff and she Ic

  all about my misdemeanours. In fact wined it was something very

  trivial sometimes brought it to my attention herself, but when I had

  really dropp large brick I was dealt with by the boss, Charles Harcourt

  the Divis~ Inspector.

  "Ah, Mr Herriot," Kitty said lightly. I knew she sympathised with me