DOG IN A DUSTBIN by Rex Harper MBE
Rex Harper moved to Cornwall in 1950 before joining the RAF as a police dog handler in 1952. He married in 1956 and returned to Bolingey in Cornwall in 1957 where he and his wife Julie started a small animal rescue centre and raised their family of four, plus several foster children. In 1960 he joined the local post office as a postman, where he worked for 26 years, during which time he helped with the design and construction of the RSPCA centre at Perranporth. Once the centre opened in 1980, Rex, as a part-time warden became involved with the cleaning and release of hundreds of oiled birds, victims of several oil slicks on the north coast. In 1987 Rex became a full-time warden at the RSPCA centre where he remained until his retirement in 1999.
   In 2003 Rex was awarded an MBE in recognition of his services to animal welfare.
   Over 39 chapters Rex records stories - some happy and some sad - relating to his family's own pets and other animals he dealt with at the RSPCA rescue centre in Perranporth.