People's Dispensary for Sick Animals
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| Founded | 1917 |
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| Founder | Maria Dickin CBE |
| Focus | Animal welfare |
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Area served
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United Kingdom |
| Website | pdsa |
The People's Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) is a veterinary charity in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1917 by Maria Dickin to provide care for sick and injured animals of the poor. It is the UK's leading veterinary charity, carrying out more than one million free veterinary consultations a year, and was up to 2009 the largest private employer of fully qualified veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses in the UK.
During World War I, animal welfare pioneer Maria Dickin worked to improve the dreadful state of animal health in the Whitechapel area of London. She wanted to open a clinic where East Enders living in poverty could receive free treatment for their sick and injured animals. Despite widespread scepticism, she opened her free "dispensary" in a Whitechapel basement on Saturday 17 November 1917. It was an immediate success and she was soon forced to find larger premises.
Within six years, Maria Dickin had designed and equipped her first horse-drawn clinic, and soon a fleet of mobile dispensaries was established. PDSA vehicles soon became a common sight throughout the country. Eventually, PDSA's role was defined by two Acts of Parliament, in 1949 and 1956, that continue to govern its activities today.
Maria Dickin instituted the Dickin Medal in 1943 to acknowledges outstanding acts of bravery by animals serving with the Armed Forces or Civil Defence units. It has become recognised as the animals' Victoria Cross, and is administered by PDSA. The PDSA created a second animal bravery award, the PDSA Gold Medal, in 2002, which is now recognised as the animal equivalent of the George Cross.
Today, treatment is only available to the pets of those in receipt of Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit. For those eligible, treatment for sick and injured animals is free of charge. Recently, the PDSA started providing eligible pet owners with preventive services such as neutering, vaccinations and microchipping. These services are the only treatments that are not free; however, they are offered at cost price.
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