Peter Gurney (9 March 1938 – 2 July 2006Gurney's death is variously reported as 1 or 2 July depending upon the source.) was an

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

and campaigner for the

rights Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical the ...

and

welfare Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...

guinea pig The guinea pig or domestic guinea pig (''Cavia porcellus''), also known as the cavy or domestic cavy (), is a species of rodent belonging to the genus ''Cavia'' in the family Caviidae. Breeders tend to use the word ''cavy'' to describe the ani ...

s. He was associated with the Cambridge Cavy Trust, founded by Vedra Stanley-Spatcher. Starting in 1990, Gurney was a regular hospital visitor to

Great Ormond Street Hospital Great Ormond Street Hospital (informally GOSH or Great Ormond Street, formerly the Hospital for Sick Children) is a children's hospital located in the Bloomsbury area of the London Borough of Camden, and a part of Great Ormond Street Hospital ...

with five of his guinea pigs. The children called him "The Guinea Pig Man".

Biography

Born in

Luton Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable an ...

, Gurney attended Beech Hill Secondary Modern School. He was enlisted in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

for his

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

, and drove buses and lorries for a living upon his discharge. At the age of 48 he bought his first guinea pig. Early retirement after a serious accident which left Gurney unable to drive allowed him to devote his attention to guinea pig medicine.

Veterinary Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutri ...

training did not concentrate on small pets, and Gurney found this sufficient spur to confront and complain about the self-regulation of the veterinary profession and highlight its lack of knowledge in the area. In 1992 Gurney wrote his first book, ''The Proper Care of Guinea Pigs'', during recovery from

kidney cancer Kidney cancer, also known as renal cancer, is a group of cancers that starts in the kidney. Symptoms may include blood in the urine, lump in the abdomen, or back pain. Fever, weight loss, and tiredness may also occur. Complications can include spr ...

. During this period,

Michael Bond Thomas Michael Bond (13 January 1926 – 27 June 2017) was a British author. He is best known for a series of fictional stories for children, featuring the character of Paddington Bear. More than 35 million Paddington books have been sold ...

, best known for his ''

Paddington Bear Paddington Bear is a fictional character in children's literature. He first appeared on 13 October 1958 in the children's book ''A Bear Called Paddington'' and has been featured in more than twenty books written by British author Michael Bond, a ...

'' books, met Gurney and encouraged him in his work and writing.

Cancer

In 1992 he was diagnosed with kidney cancer, and, during his initial recovery, wrote his first book, ''The Proper Care of Guinea Pigs'', taking all the photographs himself. Gurney wrote a number of other books, including ''The Sex Life of the Guinea Pig'', which he promoted on a tour of the United States. When Great Ormond St Hospital told him that guinea pigs were no longer welcome for health and safety reasons, Gurney complained " at bunch of control freaks in government took this away from me." In 2006 he was advised that his cancer had returned and was incurable. He made arrangements to find new homes for his guinea pigs, 40 of whom survived him, before his death at age 68. His final book, ''Last of Their Kind'', was released posthumously in April 2007.

Books

Gurney wrote several books on the health, care and welfare of guinea pigs. He toured the US to promote ''The Sex Life of Guinea Pigs''. * * * * *

References

External links

Peter Gurney's official website
created by Gurney and dedicated to his memory

hosted by the Winking Cavy Store

to create a memorial to Peter Gurney
Pets as Therapy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gurney, Peter 1938 births 2006 deaths English non-fiction writers Deaths from kidney cancer People from Luton Animal welfare workers Guinea pigs English male non-fiction writers 20th-century English male writers