Being a veterinarian is at once a very rewarding and extremely challenging job. When I first learned of the kaleidoscopic life of New York City veterinarian Dr. Amy Attas and read the description of her new book Pets and the City: True Tales of a Manhattan House Call Veterinarian, in which she "shares all the funny, heartbreaking, and life-affirming experiences she’s faced throughout her thirty-year career treating the cats and dogs of New Yorkers from Park Avenue to the projects," I immediately wanted to learn more about her unique practice. It reminded me of another veterinarian, Dr. Doug Nader, who practiced veterinary medicine in inner-city Los Angeles. Here's what Amy had to say about her landmark and inspirational book.

Marc Bekoff: Why did you write Pets and the City?

Amy Attas: I wrote Pets and the City for two reasons. First, I wanted to share some of my unique experiences as a New York City house-call veterinarian, and, perhaps more importantly, I hoped that in sharing those experiences someone might find inspiration in my book the same way my life was changed by a book I read as a teenager.

I read All Creatures Great and Small when I was 13 years old, and it had a profound effect on me. Although I knew as a child—almost genetically—that I wanted to be a veterinarian, reading All Creatures propelled me to find a job in an animal hospital right then and there. Though the book was set in Yorkshire in the north of England in the 1940s and was about a vet who treated both farm animals (making farm calls) and pets, I identified with the deep feelings James Herriot expressed about caring for animals. I was also inspired by the relationships he developed with the farmers and pet owners—the unique Yorkshire folks—and the empathetic way he treated his patients. Something........

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