NEW YORK (AP) — As a city kid, Amy Attas had big dreams of roaming the countryside, healing animals a la James Herriot’s classic “All Creatures Great and Small.” How did it go? Well, made it from Queens to Manhattan, spending the last 32 years traversing the streets of her hometown as a full-time house call doc. And, boy, does she have stories to tell, from escaping a massive, ailing and territory-threatened Rottweiler, fangs fully bared, to three weeks on intravenous antibiotics after a nasty bite from a cat patient.
Then there’s the humans behaving badly (“No dog of mine will be neutered!”) and the pampered celebrity-owned pets, including the beloved dogs of whom Attas counted as a friend. once bared all to show Attas a rash after she adopted a dog with mange, and serenaded her on piano. “You’ll never guess what happened today,” was Attas’ nightly refrain to her husband.
Now, she’s collected those tales into a juicy and compassionate memoir, “Pets and the City,” out June 18. Woven among her stories are tips and advice for animal lovers. (Forget the cat people.
) IN-HOME PET CARE IS NO LONGER A RARITY The pug-loving Attas had no grand business plan for her City Pets practice when she first packed up supplies and began traveling by subway and taxi. She had just left a tony Upper East Side animal hospital and some of her clients, wanted to keep using her. She assumed the house calls would be temporary.
“When I started, it was a novelty,” Attas sa.
