Scotsman Gareth Steel writes a raw and unvarnished memoir of his life as a vet of almost 20 years, an account that is far from the romantic picture of the profession often depicted in feel good dramas, documentaries and the media, he gives us the good, the bad and the downright ugly. He relates the harsh beginnings of working 100+ hours in Northern Ireland, barely earning minimum wage, it was a revelation to learn that vets are not as well renumerated as I thought they would be. He provides the level of detail that for me felt at times like too much information with the blood and gore, the constant of being hit by and covered by livestock and pet poo, and the operations on the animals. He found not having a life outside of the profession difficult, and sought a greater balance.

With his particular love of adventure, such as climbing, and being fit, he makes the decision to become a locum vet, although it has to be said his spirit for adventure infused the kind of vet he is, one that is willing to take life and death risks, and having the confidence, for example, to become a self taught orthopaedic animal surgeon. As a GP vet, there is a sharp learning curve to climb, where practice can change quite dramatically, it's a challenge to keep up with the new, the latest research and development, and it's impossible to know how to treat every animal. Vets can often have antiquated equipment and use rudimentary techniques, and animals can often be unappreciative of the help being offered to them, leaving vets risking their lives, Steel is regularly injured. You have to really love animals, in a profession where there are high rates of depression and suicides.

Steel discusses ethics in the treatment of animals, the impact of TB on farmers and vets, the existence of superstition in animal owners who can so often be the biggest problem when it comes the welfare of their animals and pets, the cost of industrial farming, and the problems in breeding, for example, with dogs. There is theinevitably emotionally draining and traumatic aspect of being a vet, euthanasia, and the often grieving animal owners. This is for those readers who are interested in the realities of being a vet, I would particularly recommend it to anyone who is thinking of embarking on a career as a vet. The bleak aspects of the job are balanced with the joys, such as the author's extraordinary experience of bringing a lab suffering from cancer of the spleen back from the dead. This makes for riveting and enlightening reading which I highly recommend to those interested in the realities of life as a vet. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

A real and honest book about the life of a vet, talking about the good bits and the bad ones. Growing up I thought a vet only took care of dogs and cats but of course, is more than that. thank you for my complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

Never Work with Animals by Gareth Steel

A really interesting read about what life is like working as a vet. Honest , at times amusing , but also tells you about the not so nice part of it , when sadly the animal is unwell or in pain and the inevitable will need to happen.
The author has a great writing style that tells it like it is. A great read suitable for most ages.

I am a big animal lover so I was excited to read this book. I use to work on a farm a long time ago and I felt as though I was reliving it kind of through this book. I loved the way the book was written, it made it a comforting read to me. Gareth has been a vet for a long time and these are his stories about what it is like day to day to be a vet, and all the animals that he meets. I found it extremely interesting and felt like I learnt a few things along the way. There are some really funny parts but also some sad parts that made me shed a few tears. I really enjoyed this book and I want to say Thank you to Gareth for opening up and sharing his stories with us.