It’s a vet’s life – from royalty to quake survivors

And the county’s best-loved animal doctor would surely have smiled knowingly had he heard about the life and work of another of that hardy breed, Stuart Easby.

The retired vet – who rides racehorses “for fun” – had his shoes and toothpaste cut open when arrested by suspicious Israeli officials while treating Palestinian donkeys but came up smelling of roses after dealing with a difficult assignment for Princess Anne.

Mr Easby was working in Gloucestershire when he received a peremptory and brief call for service, which said simply: “Phillips, Gatcombe, now.”

Having never visited Gatcombe or known where the horses were kept, he called directory enquiries to ask for the number of Captain Mark Phillips, and was told it was ex-directory.

Eventually getting through to the estate office, he explained his business and raced off to treat Columbus, a beloved grey of the Princess Royal’s which had slipped a tendon off its hock.

Mr Easby said: “It’s not uncommon and fortunately I’d seen a few before. They usually had surgery but this one I elected to treat more conservatively and she went on to ride around Badminton.”

Now 61 and retired from his practice at Stamford Bridge, near York, he has bequeathed a number of innovations to his profession; setting up a premium rate phone line for concerned animal owners to find out if they need a vet and how to keep an animal alive until help gets there, and offering home-made remedies he has tried and tested in his practice.

He is as busy now as when he had his business. When not riding on the gallops for the East Yorkshire trainer Declan Carroll from his yard at Sledmere, Mr Easby frequently offers his services in a voluntary capacity in disaster zones across the world.

He began by working for the charity Safe Haven For Donkeys in the Holy Land, based north of Tel Aviv in Israel.

He said: “I found that was the sort of work that really suits me. They were the type of animals I like, the large animal side of things. I was able to do it and use the skills I’ve got and developed through years of practice without the stress of having to run the business.

“The great thing about it is these people really needed this sort of help and really appreciate it. A lot of charity work in this country, people expect it.”

He watched in horror when he saw the devastation caused by the Pakistan floods last year, and immediately wanted to help although he was not sure how.

After contacting the Muslim Hands charity, he flew out and began providing what assistance he could to the region’s animals – helping their human masters in the process.

Many had become constipated through an imbalanced diet – if they had anything to eat at all – which he solved by giving them nutrients.

Mr Easby said: “Through helping the animals that these people need you are helping the families as well. We were able to examine them and find out what the problem was; they’d been eating nothing but bushes for two months.”

He has just returned from his most demanding and dangerous work yet; rescuing animals from the wreckage of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Much of this was carried out in the shadow of the stricken nuclear power plant at Fukushima, and saw the intrepid vet don protective clothing and carry a Geiger counter to monitor the level of radiation he was being exposed to.

Working with Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support, he helped to save about 100 animals, from farm cows to cats, dogs and rabbits, which are especially dear to Japanese people as many have pets instead of children because of limited space.

Often putting the animals’ welfare before his own he ignored warnings to stay out of a restricted area if he thought he could save one.

“I’m past the age of worrying,” he said.

Mr Easby also had to draw on all his experience to get them out, enticing dazed and confused dogs out from beneath the rubble by throwing things for them to fetch and catch before he could get them in his grip. The rescued animals were taken to shelters to be reunited with their relieved owners.

He added: “It’s easy to think the problem is so enormous there’s nothing I can do about it. But those 100 animals mean a lot to those 100 families and that is making a difference. To be able to go and do it is incredible. It makes me appreciate my own health and situation. I’m looking out over the vale of York and it’s so lovely, how would it look if it was devastated?”