Born in rural Worcestershire in 1950, from an early age David Harwood learned about keeping animals before going on to study veterinary medicine at London's Royal Veterinary College. Once qualified, he became established as a farm animal vet, working throughout Southwest England. In this book, David tells his own story of working his way through veterinary school in the late 1960's, then working in farm practices (with plenty of anecdotes of rural characters, both human and non-human), as well as a vivid account of the demands, challenges, and thrills of an extraordinary veterinary life full of incidents (along with life and death moments). Besides the usual livestock caseload, he later came into contact with more unusual patients, such as ostriches, giraffes, ...and snails. While telling his story, David provides plenty of information on livestock diseases and conditions which will be of interest to fellow vets and livestock keepers, while also offering plenty of tips and tricks for aspiring vets to pick up along the way. Working as a UK government Veterinary Investigator, David provides a fascinating account of the CSI-style detective work needed to uncover the causes of illness and death in farm animals, often tracing these back to the farm environment or the animal's own behavior to determine the cause. He gained a unique insider's view of farm animal health issues during the outbreaks of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease), foot-and-mouth disease, and avian influenza (bird flu). David Harwood provides an honest and open appraisal of UK official ministry practices during a time of increasing officialdom and challenges, and he describes encounters with farmers while making decisions affecting their lives and livelihoods. [Subject: Memoir, Veterinary Science]