The animals are the stars, not me

Tracey Davenport spends her working day battling with ferocious swans and saving the lives of many other animals.

The 32-year-old, who lives near Witney, is the RSPCA inspector for Oxfordshire. You may know her from the ITV series Animal Rescuers.

She is followed by a camera crew as she gets involved in the lives of dozens of animals. But Tracey isn't letting fame go to her head, even though many people already recognise her from the TV programme.

She told the Oxford Mail: "The animals who appear in the series are the real stars of the show, not me, but it's nice to see so many people are watching it."

Animal Rescuers is the latest in a long line of animal programmes including Pet Rescue, Animal Hospital and Vets in Practice.

But Tracey feels the RSPCA programme, which focuses on three inspectors, is different from the others.

"I have to admit there are a lot of animal programmes but I think this one differs because it is actually following the inspectors around on jobs and it's nice to get it across from our point of view. "It's very embarrassing watching myself. In one episode I was sniffing and chewing gum and looked as common as muck!

"I will never be big-headed because there is so much room for improvement.

"I'm very self-critical and get embarrassed - which is why I watch it by myself."

There is another advantage to being followed round your job by TV cameras. Said Tracey: "It's lovely that my mum and dad who live in Yorkshire can see what I do.

"As far as this programme goes, I think the ratings speak for themselves. One of the episodes showed that more than seven million viewers tuned in. I don't think people will ever get sick and tired of animal programmes that are true to life. If people watch this programme they'll realise what a wide range of jobs we have to deal with. We get all sorts of jobs thrown at us and I hope people will watch the series and help themselves a little more by taking injured birds straight to the vet themselves where they can, because it certainly helps us out,"

Tracey has worked for the RSPCA in Oxfordshire since 1991. Her love for animals is enormous. She lives alone with a cat and her beloved German Shepherd, Wolfie, whom she rescued two years ago. "My dog is the dearest thing in my life," said Tracey, who is single.

Her worst job while filming was when she was called to a house full of cats after their elderly owner died.

"The old lady, who was in her 70s, was found collapsed on the floor and died a day later in hospital. There were 11 cats in her house and the sight was unbelievable.

"One kitten was dead and the mess was absolutely terrible. There was years of mess in that house and it was so horrific I can't describe it because you actually have to see it.

"A few of the cats were put to sleep and one six-month-old kitten had the mouth of an 18-year-old cat," she said.

Tracey was able to save three-quarters of the cats and they have since gone to loving homes. But she said: "It always tugs at the old heart strings when you see those pitiful eyes and hear the whimpers. "

Among other rescues in the six-episode series are those involving swans. One cygnet was being picked on by an adult swan but when Tracey tried to save it, the cygnet flew out of reach into a pool of slurry at Farmoor Reservoir.

"He was very weak and was in all this thick slurry.

"Swans can get disorientated and hypothermia can set in, so it was really important to get the poor thing out of there because he was becoming waterlogged.

"Swans can do a lot of damage and I once had my ribs bruised by the biggest, most aggressive swan, who jumped on my back and started to lash into me, making my lip bleed as well."

"If people didn't want these programmes, they wouldn't be watching it. You get dramas of the same subjects all the time and people love it.

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