Rick Fenny, the ‘Red Dog vet’, releases third of four-book series and signs copies at Albany’s Paperbark store

Rick Fenny, the “Red Dog vet” whose first book detailed his Albany childhood, has completed the third of his four-book series. He was at Paperbark Merchants in York Street on last Friday, to sign copies of Marny, My Third Dog, helped by Margie his current red kelpie. The series has been planned to cover four separate periods of Mr Fenny’s life, with the new volume taking care of the time he spent as a new graduate in the Kimberley, from 1972-74. In the latest book, his new pup Marny is his constant companion. Mr Fenny has several vet practices in the Pilbara. He is as used to attending vast cattle stations as he is to be treating a sick family pet. The Rick Fenny Group, which is based in Perth, operates several veterinary businesses but also runs tourism services and has substantial property interests. Mr Fenny’s journey into the care of animals began with his first red kelpie Pip, whom he often referred to as “my little brother”. It was his Albany childhood which helped form his love of the bush and the ocean and it was here when, aged 10, that first red dog came into his life. The second book features Kelly, his second kelpie, and relates to Mr Fenny’s 20s and his experience at the University of Queensland’s vet school. The final release will take the reader up to the 1979 death of Red Dog, the canine made famous by the Louis de Bernieres book and subsequent film. Mr Fenny, who had treated Red Dog many times, had to put him to sleep after a suspected bout of strychnine poisoning. He then buried him in an unmarked grave between Roebourne and Cossack, in the North West. Margie, who travelled with Mr Fenny to the book signing in Albany, is not likely to feature in a future volume. “I’d need to get up to about nine books before I got to Margie,” Mr Fenny said. “Maybe, though . . . if I’m still going.”