True Tales
Animal Adventures of an SPCA Inspector
by
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“You take this stick, go in the cage, over to the den and give the tiger a good poke to make sure he’s asleep”. That was the statement that Chief Inspector Hepworth said to me soon after he had shot a tranquilizer dart into each of the two tigers and a lion. All three animals had retreated to the safety of their den and were now out of our view. My previous zoo work experiences told me that poking sleeping tigers was a bad idea, but the loyal employee in me wanted to obey my boss.
Fortunately, all three animals were soundly sleeping and we set about the task of dragging their snoring, limp bodies out of the den and into their transport cages that had been provided by the man from the safari park. Safari Mel, said the male Siberian tiger was the biggest tiger he had ever seen. Having worked in several zoos and circuses, and having seen hundreds of captive tigers, I had to agree with him.
All three of the animals were now leaving the woefully inadequate, privately owned cage, behind the house of the owner, Marvin Staunch of the town of Sharon, Ontario.
Their new home was to be one of Ontario’s accredited zoos.
This sets the tone of the 30+ year career I had, working in animal welfare.
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About the Book
Poking a sleeping tiger with a stick is not always a wise thing to do, but that act, along with rescuing animals from abusive or neglectful owners, is what this book is about. A house full of rabbits running loose, wolves sloshing around in flooded cages at a so-called sanctuary, and people with odd and unusual pets are all stories that the author has encountered during his more than thirty-year career as an SPCA inspector.
Who knows what animals their neighbor is keeping in their house, garage, or garden shed? Perhaps a six-foot long boa constrictor is loose in the crawl space, an adult cougar is tearing up the sofa, or the house is full of Pomeranians!
These are the animals that make up some of the fascinating stories shared in this book by a man who has spent a lifetime working with and on behalf of all animals.
About the Author
Hugh Coghill has always had an interest in animals. Follow him from his early life in a suburb of Toronto where he explored a ravine to see what critters lived there, to working in zoos, circuses, and farms, and finally settling into a long career in animal welfare in which he ultimately achieved the position of chief inspector.