WIREDGOV

Maria Dickin, the pioneer of free treatment for sick animals whose owners could not afford to pay for it, has been honoured with an English Heritage Blue Plaque on the Hackney house in which she was born and close to the area of London in which she first started her work.

Founder of the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA), Maria Dickin (1870-1951), opened her first clinic in the East End in 1917. The sign on its door read: “Bring your sick animals. Do not let them suffer. All animals treated. All treatment free.” By 1945, PDSA had become the largest animal welfare charity in the world and Maria Dickin had instituted the PDSA Dickin medal. This became known as the Victoria Cross for animals associated with the armed forces or civil defence who had shown conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty.

The English Heritage Blue Plaque is at 41 Cassland Road (formerly 1 Farringdon Terrace) in Hackney. The three storey end-of-terrace house was Dickin’s birthplace and her home for the first two or three years of her life. The fact that her work with animal welfare began in East London makes her commemoration in this locale all the more appropriate.

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