The Blue Cross and PDSA

 

The Blue Cross and PDSA

While acknowledging that ownership of pets should only be undertaken by those who can afford to look after them, it must be understood that family circumstances can change. A pet becomes a loved and treasured member of the family, forming special relationships with different people, or perhaps with just one person.

 When a family falls on hard times, they will do their best to keep their pet. These days, there are food banks not only for people but for animals, too.

In 1897 a group of animal lovers formed ‘Our Dumb Friends League’ to care for working horses in London and encourage kindness to animals. It later became known, in 1958, as The Blue Cross.

In 1900 the society bought the first horse ambulance to carry injured horses to hospital. A year later, it lent sun hats to horses in hot weather to keep them cool. In 1906, the first Blue Cross hospital was opened in Victoria. It has never refused treatment to injured pets.

The Blue Cross Fund was instituted in 1912 to help animals during the Balkan War (1912-1913) It also helped animals in both World Wars (1914-1918, 1939-1945)The Blue Cross continues to care for sick and injured animals and to support their owners.

The People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals of the Poor, now known simply as the PDSA, was founded in 1917, during the First World War, by Maria Dickin. When visiting the poor people in the East End of London, she was appalled by the poverty she saw, and the sick and injured pets whose owners could not afford to feed them or pay for treatment for their ailments. She set up a clinic in a basement in Whitechapel to provide free care for dogs and cats in need. The demand was so great that she soon required larger premises and eventually developed a taskforce of mobile vans to travel round the country, dispensing treatment, and medicines.

Today, the PDSA is known as the vet charity for pets in need. It works to keep people and their pets together, believing that poverty should not be an obstacle to owning and loving a pet. It also takes a role in educating children and the wider public about the care and welfare of animals. It has forty-eight veterinary hospitals across the country and those in need can apply to receive free or low-cost treatment for their sick or injured pets.

Maria Dickin spent her life campaigning for the dignified and humane treatment of animals. In 1943, she instituted the Dickin Medal, the animal Victoria Cross for animals who served the country during war.

 

 

The Dickin Medal

 

The Dickin Medal

Maria Dickin founded the PDSA (People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals) in 1917 in a cellar in Whitechapel, London.

Through her social work in the slums of London’s East End, Mia, as she was known, quickly realised that animals suffered as much as their poverty-stricken owners. Veterinary treatment was beyond the means of the poor and so she put a notice outside her basement, which said, “Bring your sick animals. Do not let them suffer. All animals treated. All treatment free.”

She had no veterinary training. Before her marriage she had given singing lessons! Most of the helpers at her clinic were volunteers and initially her efforts were opposed by the veterinary profession, who declared that her work was dangerous. Her response was to suggest that they help rather than hinder her.

By 1921, there were seven PDSA clinics across London and in that year, she added a horse-drawn clinic. Within the first decade of the foundation of the PDSA, there were 57 new clinics, including in Europe and the Middle East, and three mobile clinics. In 1928 she opened a rest home for horses and donkeys and a year later she founded a children’s club, called Busy Bees, with the focus on animal welfare. She also created a training centre for veterinary students, on the site of what is now a modern PDSA Pet Hospital.

In recognition of her pioneering work, she was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1929 and became a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 1948.

In 1943, during World War II, she introduced the PDSA medal for animal valour. This is now known as the Dickin Medal and is considered the animal kingdom equivalent of the Victoria Cross. It was awarded between 1943 and 1949 to 75 animals.  In 2000, it was decided to restore the medal, and since then 20 dogs and two horses have been honoured. (Correct at time of writing, in 2024.)

It is awarded to animals serving with the Armed Forces or Civil Defence Units who have shown conspicuous gallantry, devotion to duty and loyalty, or to any animal in civilian life who has demonstrated outstanding courage and selflessness.

An award honouring the service of all animals in the First World War was conferred in 2014.

The Dickin Medal is made of bronze and has engraved on it, within a laurel wreath, the words, ‘For Gallantry’ and ‘We Also Serve’. On the reverse are details of the recipient. The ribbon on which it hangs is striped green, brown and blue, to represent sea, earth and air. 

Maria Dickin died in 1951, aged 80. A blue commemorative plaque marks her birthplace in Hackney.