Book review: ‘Dogs and Their Humans’

Dogs and Their Humans: Stories of Healing and Hope from the Supervet’s Surgery by Noel Fitzpatrick. Simon and Schuster, 2024. Hardcover, 320 pages.

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Over the years I have been reviewing books, I have read many veterinary memoirs as vets young and older followed in James Herriot’s footprints. While some become bestsellers, others reach a smaller audience. What they all have in common, however, is a true love of animals. I was reminded of that recently as I read Noel Fitzpatrick’s new memoir Dogs and Their Humans: Stories of Healing and Hope from the Supervet’s Surgery.

In this warmhearted collection of tales featuring people and their beloved canines in crisis, Noel, a well-known television and media personality in the United Kingdom and Ireland, once again captures readers with his sincerity and deep love of animals.

This time, he focuses on the bond between dogs and their human guardians. Whether he is sharing individual stories of how his veterinary work has saved lives and returned injured dogs to a good quality of life or reflecting on his life with his late canine soulmate Keira, the author always explores the myriad ways dogs, with their unconditional love, enrich our lives and often help heal deep emotional wounds.

Although some of his clients have been royalty, the majority of the animals he works with belong to everyday people — like a young boy on the autism spectrum, a Ukrainian refugee family, a man struggling with addiction, and a couple who cannot communicate.

As with any collection of stories, Dogs and Their Humans is a book that can be dipped into one chapter at a time, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Best Friends readers devoured it in one day as I did.

Are you the author or publisher of a book about animals that you would like considered for review? Please send the details to editor@bestfriends.org.

Our goal at Best Friends is to support all animal shelters in the U.S. in reaching no-kill in 2025. No-kill means saving every dog and cat in a shelter who can be saved, accounting for community safety and good quality of life for pets. 

Shelter staff can’t do it alone. Saving animals in shelters is everyone’s responsibility, and it takes support and participation from the community. No-kill is possible when we work together thoughtfully, honestly, and collaboratively.