Many charities attribute their existence to inspired individuals with a burning ambition to bring about change.
PDSA owes its foundation to the vision of one woman - Maria Elizabeth Dickin - and her determination to raise the status of animals, and the standard of their care, in society.
During the First World War, Maria Dickin CBE 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 the scepticism of the Establishment, Maria Dickin opened her free 'dispensary' in a Whitechapel basement on Saturday 17th November 1917. It was an immediate success and she was soon forced to find larger premises.
Within six years this extraordinary woman had designed and equipped her first horse-drawn clinic and soon a fleet of mobile dispensaries was established. PDSA vehicles soon became a comforting and familiar sight throughout the country.
With success came increased attention from her critics at the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and the Ministry of Agrigulture. By providing free treatment for animals belonging to the poor, attracting charitable support and by training her own practitioners Maria Dickin was seen as a threat to the establishment. In 1937 she was forced to defend PDSA in a letter to the Royal College:
'If you are so concerned about proper treatment of the sick animals of the poor, open your own dispensaries ... Show owners how to care for their animals in sickness and health. Do the same work that we are doing. Instead of spending your energy and time hindering us, spend it dealing with this mass misery.'
Soon an agreement was made with the veterinary profession allowing PDSA to continue its work unimpeded. Later, the charity's role was defined by two Acts of Parliament in 1949 and 1956, that continue to govern its activities today.
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