The book is set in Victorian England. Dolittle lives in the English village of Puddleby-on-the-Marsh in the West Country. He has many friends, like Tommy Stubbins and Matthew Mugg, the Cats'-Meat Man. His house is filled with animals. He owns a parrot called Polynesia, a pig called Gub-Gub, a dog called Jip, a duck called Dab-Dab, a monkey called Chee-Chee, an owl called Too-Too, and a white mouse named "Whitey". He also owns a gazelle-unicorn cross called "pushmi-pullyu" ("push-me—pull-you") that has two heads, one at the back and one at the front of the body.