Appeals: The People's Dispensary for Sick Animals

The People's Dispensary for Sick Animals, Britain's largest veterinary charity, was founded 75 years ago to provide free treatment for the sick and injured animals of owners who could not afford to pay private veterinary fees. Today, the PDSA runs 50 veterinary centres and a pet aid scheme, organised through 64 private veterinary practices. They give 1.4 million free treatments throughout Britain each year at a cost of pounds 17m. The animals' owners will have demonstrated that they receive certain means-tested benefits. The PDSA is now building two new centres, at Wolverhampton and Brighton, and needs to raise about pounds 500,000 towards the cost of equipping each one.

The People's Dispensary for Sick Animals, Whitechapel Way, Priorslee, Telford, Shropshire TF2 9PQ, telephone 0952 290999.

Joanna Gibbon