Fella

A city boy, I had little association with
animals, with the exception of a male English
bulldog, Fella, who was my best friend until I
was fi ve years old. We played together, napped
together and ate from the same bowl together
when our mother wasn't looking. His broad
tongue covered my whole head in two swipes
and many giggles. I was fi ve years old when
he died but I remember him as though it was
yesterday. Th e picture on the front cover is
my Fella. He, above all others instilled in me
a love for all animals. I grew up in Canada,
receiving a doctorate in veterinary medicine at
the University of Guelph, Ontario Veterinary
College. At the age of nineteen I dedicated the
next two years of my life to my church, serving
as a full time missionary for the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in France and
Switzerland. In the fi nal week of my mission,
I had an experience I have recorded in these
pages that softened my heart and my head and
led me down a path to my future life's work.
Th e subsequent adventures are recorded in large
part in this book. Life changing adventures and
lessons learned in the small family farm barns,
often in the dead of night, of central New York
and northern Vermont, and within the welcome
warmth of my clinic. A word of caution: if a
cow has a bad cough from pneumonia, DO
NOT stand behind he