Manure on his boots, blood on his hands, and a constantly ringing cell phone in his pocket, Dale Alumbaugh, 67, daily witnesses the breadth of the lives of animals from lap dogs to dairy cows in Grundy County, Missouri. A veterinarian in Trenton for more than forty years, Alumbaugh puts in twelve- to fourteen-hour days as a doctor for large and small animals, helping his partner, Teresa, care for their sizeable farm in the late evenings. Down-to-earth and laid back, his clients appreciate his personality and his soft heart, his clinic and home filled with stray animals he has come to call his own. Whether he is spaying a cat or is curled up on the couch with his dogs watching football, Alumbaugh never hesitates to answer his phone, often responding to emergency calls and giving free veterinary advice at all hours of the day and night.