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BT W. B. NORTHROP.
LONDON'S animals now have a hos- i
pita! all to themselves. It Is the
only Institution of its kind in the
world. Any London costermonger may
bring his donkey to the Animal Hospital
and have it attended to for nothing. Not
only this. The Queen's own veterinary
surgeon, as well as Professor Hobday
and other famous practitioners, are at
the command of the poorest of the poor.
Though the hospital is directly under
royal patronage and has among its di
rectors Dukes, Countesses and other
members of the nobility, the animals of
the poor alone are treated.
It is no dainty, one-roomed establish
ment for the pampered pets of the rich,
but a great building every section of
which is given up to treating animals
belonging to persons too poor to pay the
fee of a veterinary surgeon.
The hospital Itself occupies a great
block of buildings in the heart of Lon
don's fashionable West End. It is in
Hugh street, Belgrave road, not far from
Victoria station. '
Every day from 9 until 4 hundreds of
Die London poor bring their pets to the
entrance of the great Animal Hospital.
The rule of the hospital is never to turn
away any animal in distress. Not only
rc dogs and horses treated, but all kinds
of domestic pets such as white mice, cats,
parrots, canaries, bullfinches, horses,
donkeys, dogs all of which receive the
most expert treatment it is possible to
give.
Animals are able to get in this wonder
ful establishment a degree of attention
and skill which it would be impossible
to obtain in private practice. In fact, it
has been a somewhat difficult matter,
fince the hospital came into working or
der, to restrain the rich from taking ad
vantage of the magnificent veterinary
talent at the command of the institution.
Occasionally, where any remarkable
disease develops among animal patients
belonging to the rich, an exception may
be made for the mere sake of scientific
research; but as a rule no matter how
wealthy a person is and even if he should
be patron of the hospital his animals
ire not received.
A recent exception, however, to the
"poor man's rule" was made in the case
sf a bulldog belonging to the Earl of
Varmouth. This dog semed to have
some strange disease which several pri
vate veterinarians did not seem to be
ble to diagnose. Finally the Earl 6f
Yarmouth himself took the dog in a
fab from the Rltz Hotel to the Animal
Hospital, and after he had pleaded for
a long time with the secretary, Mr. Coke,
tt was decided to make an exception and
Rdmlt the "rich patient." Had it not
been, however, that the Yarmouth bull
Jog presented a peculiar medical problem
he would not have been admitted.
Human in Its Arrangements.
The arrangement of the Animal Hos
pital Is almost an exact counterpart of
that 'of any great hospital for human be
ings; making, of course, the necessary
adaptations required by brute creation.
For Instance, . the entire building Is di
vided up into wards. As you enter the
main doorway under an Imposing arch,
above which is written the legend "Ani
mal Hospital" you are confronted by the
entrances of several wards on the ground
floor. There Is a section of the Horses'
Ward on the lower floor, for animals too
seriously Injured to ascend the inclined
gangway leading to the second story. On
the same floor -with the Lower Horses'
Ward are the Donkeys' Ward, the Dog
Ward and the wards for, cats.
As cats in London are almost a na
tional institution, these members of the
animal world receive a great deal of at
tention. Nearly every London household
of the poorer class can at' least" support
one cat; and some of them go in for sev-
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eral. As it is well known that cats are
quite susceptible to most of the diseases
which afflict human beings, the Cat Ward
in the Animal Hospital is always full to
overflowing.
Most cats in the hospital are afflicted
with ordinary curable diseases. The hos
pital does not make a practice of keeping
animals which are hopelessly ill. For
such creatures there is a well-organized
"lethal chamber," which is calculated to
deprive even cats of all their lives in a
manner warranted painless.
When it Is decided by the resident vet
erinarian that any animals, birds, or other
pets left by their owners are not capable
of being cured, the formal consent of the
owners is always obtained before the in
troduction to the lethal chamber takes
place. Not infrequently, ignorant owners
of animals would rather have their pets
alive under "any circumstances." In
these cases the humanitarian principles
of the hospital authorities Intervene, and
the animals are put out of their misery.
Rheumatism in Donkeys Relieved.
As a rule, however, the Animal Hos
pital seldom has to advise destruction of
animals brought within the care of the
staff. Some marvelous cures have al
ready been effected at the hospital, though
it was only opened a few months ago. The
lives of hundreds of dogs, cats, birds,
mice and other pets have been saved, and
now the poor are beginning to recognize
the advantages held out to them by this
unique Institution.
Several costermongers a large class of
the London population, who control all
street-vending bring their donkeys every
day to the Animal Hospital for treatment.
Strange to say, many of these donkeys
suffer from rheumatism, and this disease
often brings about a stiffness in the joints
which renders the animal quite useless
for getting about the streets. -A few
weeks la the Donkeys' Ward at the hos
THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN. PORTLAND, DECEMBER " t, 190&- -
London's New Institution
Which Treafc Only the Dumb Crea
tures of the Poor.
Free Aid to Useful Animals and
Medical Assistance
,ST '
SI
FJ?Y AFPUANCE
'FVXJMP JN TM l?GEF?Y JiT TtfE JJOSFYTAL . ALL
OPERATIONS ARE PONE, UN PER ANB5THFTOS
- ANP ElET- J1PMANE PEP7CE XNOUW TO
pital literally puts the coster's "mate" on
his feet again.
Speaking of cures which modern veter
inary surgery is able to effect, some re
markable operations are ,performed now
adays. Quite a number of cats have been
fitted' with quite becoming glass eyes
during the last few years, and several
valuable dogs have received sets of false
teeth.
False Teeth for Dogs.
That these latter operations are not
mere "faddy" excursions of surgeons in
the field of epxeriment Is attested by the
fact that false teeth in old dogs have
proved the means of extending the
lives of the animals for many years.
When dogs get old and their teeth
fail, the animals are not able to properly
masticate their food, and they become de
bilitated from not having Uie proper
nourishment. Professor Hobday and
other veterinarians have succeeded in fit
ting excellent sets of false teeth into
the mouths of a number of dogs. Of
course, the same methods of fitting teeth
are adopted with dogs as those used with
respect to human beings. Regular molds
of the dog's mouth have to be taken and
the teeth are fitted on plates, as usual.
The conformation of the dog's mouth
make It quite easy to fit good sets ot
teeth into it, and there are many dogs in
London today that can boast sets of false
teeth of which, from an artistic point of
view, they should be very proud.
Another operation successfully car
ried out on dogs, cats and other ani
mals today Is trephining, or removing
portions of bone from the skull. Not
infrequently there are brought into the
hospital dogs and other animals which
have had the bones of the face or skull
crushed. Ordinarily these - animals
would die in agony within a few hours.
Such cases are taken at once to the
animal hospital operating room, where
very appliance of modern surgery is
for Pets
WrTltet,iltf(iVr'gt1?l!l
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to be found. A quick trephining; op
eration by the resident surgeon, and
the animal is soon on the road to re
covery. Not only are cases of accident at
tended in the hospital, but there is a
department which goes In .for animal
beautifying. For instance, many dogs
and cats are brought in which are suf
fering from facial and other deformi
ties. Among bull-dogs, harelip is very
prevalent, as well as cleft palate. It
is really wonderful to see some of these
creatures "before" and "after" treat
ment. Bull-dogs will be brought into the
hospital which are quite unpresentable
in personal appearance. Ft takes very
little natural deformity to make a bull
dog much uglier than he is, 'but a bull
dog with a harelip can scarcely be con
sidered a "thing of beauty." And yet,
not infrequently, these animals are
very valuable. Under the surgeon's
scalpel, however,- the facial blemish
disappears, and when the dogs return
to their homes, their owners, never
cease praising the skill of the animal
doctor. Glass eyes fitted to cats come
also under the beautifying department.
A one-eyed cat is not a very Inviting
object at the best. The good looks of
even the handsomest of cats is spoiled
by the loss of an orbit. At the animal
hospital, however, it is not impossible
to render cats "as good as new" so
far as appearance is concerned. It
must be' admitted that a cat with a
glass eye possesses certain advantages
over one without this article. If It
comes to the scratch, so to speak, the
glass-eyed cat is less likely to suffer
serious damage than his antagonist.
Artificial Limbs.
Not only is it quite feasible to supply
dogs with false teeth, and cats with false
eyes, but the substitution of. artificial
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A GREAT OF
ANJMALS ANP PT3 OF THE.
PNfflT5 OF THE WSTTDTION W ANIMAL AMBULANCE.
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. srFME A P0NKEY
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TffER ANIMAL'S TO -THE NOSRITAL WHENEVER TSfEY JVEEP SfEPICAL OL
dRCICAL. A7P- TJS' R7NEST VETERINARY SPRGEONS IN ENGLANP GIVE
THEIR SERVICE J TREE.
limbs for natural ones is an ordinary oc
currence at the Animal Hospital. Quite
a number of dogs, ranging from Bmall fox
terriers to Great Danes, are fitted out
with artificial legs, most of these being
composed of leather, and some light
metal, such as aluminum.
It 4s rather curious that animals are
often brought to the hospital with dislo
cated tails. There is a special form of
treatment for this condition. In the case
of dogs, the bones of the tail are set, and
the tail is kept In a stiff splint until the
dislocation is reduced.
. As a matter of fact, every known surgi
cal operation is performed at the Ani
mal Hospital, from setting a dislocated
tail to trephining a fractured skull.
In the bird "ward "an 'equal amount of
skill and attention is devoted to feathered
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HAS SiST &TEW OfeNEP JjN L OH PON UWEZE.
FO0R ONLY ARE ATTEMPEP. ALEXANPFA3
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WARP L0NZPPN C0STJ?Af0jVGRS F2VNG
pets of the poor. Birds in every state of
disease are brought to the hospital by
their owners. One of the saddest cases
seen by .the writer on the occasion of a
recent visit to the hospital was that of
an English skylark with a fractured
thigh. The poor creature rested on a tuft
of its native grass larks require sods
of earth to be put In their cages qJte
forlorn and silent.
Another unhappy case was that of a
parrot, who had lost practically all his
feathers, with exception of a few yellow
strands of a lugubrious topknot of which
he was once very proud. A strange para
site had attacked the skin of this bird and
reduced it from a state of proud and
garrulous festivity to one of deep and
wretched depression. All the . poor bird's
shrieks of optimistic laughter were gone.
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HOSPITAL, "
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However, the matron of the hospital
state that, in the course of a few weeks'
treatment she would be able to restore
polly to his pristine glory. This restora
tion is being effected by dally sprays of
antiseptic fluid, and also lotions to en
courage a new growth of feathers.
Treating Pet Mice and Rats.
Among the favorite pets of the London
poor are white mice and rats. There is
a regular, "rattery" so to speak, at the
Animal Hospital. These creatures are al
lowed considerable freedom, when not in
jured too badly to get about, and their dis
eases often interest not only the veterin
arians, but also many regular practition
ers.. Recently the Queen's veterinarian
(Concluded on Faze 49.)