ROYAL APPROVAL
In 1885, the Battersea home began
taking in cats, too. Not long
afterwards, in December 1885, Queen
Victoria gladly agreed to become its
patron. According to The Times
newspaper of 22 February 1990, in
1896 alone, 42,614 animals were taken
in, and by the end of the 20th century
as many as 70,000 visitors a year were
coming to see the pawed patrons!
The article in All the Year Round had
praised the home as an
‘extraordinary monument’ to
English people’s affection for dogs.
It also became a monument to the
particular individuals involved in its
history, from kind-hearted, hard-
working Mary Tealby, to Dickens and
Hollingshead — who never stopped
campaigning for it, describing it in
1895 as ‘an old and favourite asylum
of mine’. Following Queen Victoria,
our own queen, Elizabeth II, became
a patron of the home in 1956.
Battersea Dogs & Cats Home is now
very different from the original
stable yard, with centres in Berkshire
and Kent as well as in Battersea.
Thanks to public support, the
animals have comfortable quarters,
and all the attention they need until
they can be taken into new families.
Not just for Christmas, of course, but
for years of companionship and
pleasure — which will more than
repay the care they require!
You can explore the homes for
yourself at
https://www.battersea.org.uk/
about-us/visit-us, see some dogs
ready for adoption at
https://www.battersea.org.uk/dogs/
dog-rehoming-gallery, and learn
about ‘kitten season’ at
https://www.battersea.org.uk/cats/
kitten-season
FuN FaCt tRuMpEt
‘Not just for Christmas’ is a
slogan created exactly
40 years ago, in December
1978, by Clarissa Baldwin, CBE.
She was made a ‘Commander
of the British Empire’ for her
lifelong devotion to animal
welfare.
Battersea
From now on the home would always
be associated with this new place. In
1874, John Hollingshead, the
journalist now thought to have
written the original article in All the
Year Round, commented in a
collection of his own stories and
essays, ‘This charitable refuge for lost
and starving dogs is now a permanent
London institution’.