Bradford PDSA Hospital celebrates 20th anniversary

One of 49 PDSA Pet Hospitals in the UK, it provides a lifeline for local pet owners struggling to afford vet care.

Now the vet team at the Jeanne Marchig Centre is celebrating its 20th anniversary - with a fundraising challenge.

A ‘paw-some’ group of colleagues, led by Veterinary Nurse Team Leader Abby Stanley-Jones, walked from their sister PDSA Pet Clinic in Huddersfield back to the Bradford PDSA Pet Hospital, covering 11 miles.

The fundraising team outside the Bradford hospital (Image: PDSA)

Says Abby: “We’re so proud to be celebrating 20 years of keeping people and pets together in Bradford.

“I’ve been at PDSA for nearly seven years and in that time, I can safely say no two days have ever been the same. It’s a great place to work!

“When it came to celebrating our big birthday we wanted to do something different and give back to the charity at the same time, so a group of us decided to take on a challenge. We had a great day and it was lovely to be out of the usual clinical environment to bond with the team. A huge thank you to everyone who sponsored us, we raised a total of £277.”

The team on their fundraising walk (Image: PDSA)

From the first basic dispensary in London’s Whitechapel, Maria Dickin took PDSA to other towns and cities by way of a horse-drawn ambulance, treating animals and educating adults and children on the proper care of them. During the 1920s and 30s motorised dispensaries covered up to 80 miles each day and permanent clinics were established nationwide.

The first mention of a PDSA dispensary in Bradford was in the 1931 Annual Report, which listed an address at 98 Leeds Road. Six years later it had moved to Great Horton Street. In 1946 Maria Dickin presented the White Cross of St Giles to Mrs Ineson, of Batley, for raising more than £500 towards the work in the area, notably in Bradford, Batley and Leeds.

The staff celebrate completing their challenge (Image: PDSA)

PDSA continued to provide care for sick and injured animals in the area then in the late 1950s the charity needed a new home. A site was identified in Batley and PDSA moved to larger premises on Healey Lane. The facility was in use until the mid-1990s, when the charity moved to a purpose-built hospital on Carlinghow Lane, Batley. A decade later it had outgrown the building and the hospital was closed and re-located to a new site in Bradford.

The Jeanne Marchig Centre opened at 1 Lorne Street, East Bowling in May 2004 with six consulting rooms, two operating theatres, a waiting room, dispensary and separate recovery kennels for dogs and cats.

The hospital had a substantial donation from the Marchig Animal Welfare Trust, and the hospital is named in honour of trust founder Madame Jeanne Marchig, who visited the hospital in June 2004 where she met staff and pet patients.

In 2009, work was carried out to change the layout of the working space. In 2023 the team at Bradford PDSA Pet Hospital saw more than 10,000 pets - an average of 125 pets a day. The service in the district costs PDSA more than £1.6 million to deliver annually and the charity relies entirely on public support.

A century after it was founded, PDSA relies on donations to deliver life-saving treatment to hundreds of thousands of pets across the UK. Visit pdsa.org.uk