1917 - As the First World War raged in France, the doors of the very first PDSA clinic opened in a dank cellar in London’s Whitechapel. The People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals of the Poor, as the charity was then known, was the creation of Maria Dickin CBE. Appalled by the suffering of both working animals and pets that she had witnessed while visiting the poor of London’s East End, Maria set up PDSA in order to provide free veterinary care for those owners unable to afford a private vet.
1921 - Within just four years, PDSA had seven clinics across London, between them treating some 40,000 animals a year. Maria knew that this was just a first step, she faced two pressing needs, first to reach as many sick and injured animals as possible and second to educate owners in responsible animal care. Resourceful as ever, Maria hit on the perfect way of doing both: a horse-drawn caravan was transformed into a travelling dispensary which then embarked on a round-Britain tour. It was a resounding success. Inspired, Maria built up a whole fleet of horse-drawn caravans to serve communities throughout the country.
1923 - Valuable though the mobile dispensaries were, the real task was to establish permanent clinics in areas of greatest need. In 1923, Salford welcomed the first PDSA clinic to open outside London.
1924 - A year later, PDSA had 17 clinics across the UK, providing free care for 150,000 animals annually. Not content with this, the charity extended its work abroad. Soon PDSA was almost as well known in Paris, Rumania, Tangier, Egypt, Greece and Palestine as it was in Manchester and Birmingham.
1928 - PDSA set up the first animal sanatorium in Europe. The Ilford Sanatorium, offered both a rest home for horses and donkeys and a fully equipped training centre for veterinary students. The Sanatorium played an important role in the work of the charity until 1973 when it was badly damaged by a fire. A modern PDSA PetAid hospital now stands on the site.
