A Seal Pup in My Bath: Tales from an RSPCA Inspector
By (Author) Steve Greenhalgh
Little, Brown Book Group
Constable
26th May 2011
United Kingdom
General
Non Fiction
Memoirs
Ambulance and rescue services
636.0832
Paperback
320
300g
Not many people can say that a mouse got them a discount on a hotel room. Very few people have joined a police raid on a quail-fighting ring. Hardly anyone has managed to gas himself with chloroform while driving a van . . . and survived.
Having worked as an RSPCA inspector since the early 1970s, Steve Greenhalgh (it's pronounced Greenhalsh but he's come to accept that Greenhall, Greenharg and Greenhouse will do at a push) has been through all of the above as well as exposing cats that impersonate each other, splinting magpies' broken legs and wrestling swans in the high street traffic. He has even ventured out on to a fast-flowing river in a boat with only one oar to save a cat while Rolf Harris provided a running commentary for Animal Hospital.Not all of Steve's experiences as an inspector have been a bundle of laughs, but sharing some of his adventures from the past four decades helps us to see the vital work undertaken by the RSPCA and the huge impact that they have on the lives of ordinary people.Just don't ask him to deal with an angry four-foot snake in a flimsy budgie cage ever again . .Back in the seventies Steve Greenhalgh abandoned a promising career in science to join the RSPCA, where he qualified as an inspector in 1973. During a career spanning 28 years he received several awards and commendations relating to animal welfare. His hobbies and interests include playing in a rock band, performance poetry and football (Oldham Athletic and Accrington Stanley FC).