The R.S.P.C.A. Fund for Sick and Wounded Horses. 



APPROVED BY THE ARMY COUNCIL AS AN AUXILIARY TO THE 

 ARMY VETERINARY CORPS. 



Important Testimony to its Value. 



1. Message from F.M. SIR JOHN 

 FRENCH, Commander in Chief of the 

 British Expeditionary Force in France. 



In a letter to tlie Duke of Portland. 

 Chairman of the R.S.P.C.A. i'~uncl, dated 

 Feb. 14th, 1915, Brig.-General the Hon. \V. 

 Lambton, Military Secretary at General 

 Headquarters of the British Army in the 

 Field, writes : — 



" Sir John French has requested me to 

 thank you for your letter of the 28th January, 

 describing the work already done by the 

 R.S.P.C.A. for the Army, and what it 

 proposes for the future. 



' Sir John has received most satisfactory 

 reports of the work done up to now by the 

 Society, and has no doubt that its efforts for 

 the care of the sick and wounded horses will 

 have a most beneficial effect in shortening 

 the period of sickness, and in reducing the 

 wastage of horseflesh in the Army in 

 P^ ranee." 



2. Commendation of the splendid work 

 done by the R.S.P.C.A. Fund, as publicly 

 expressed by the well-known sportsman 

 and horse-lover. The EARL OF 

 LONSDALE, who has recently visited 

 the A.V.C. Hospitals. 



In a letter to the Daily Telegraph, dated 

 h^eb. 13th, Lord Lonsdale describes the 

 result of his observations at the front. He 

 writes : 



It would be gratifying to some who 

 have so willingh' lent their aid, financially and 

 otherwise, in the interests of animals at the 

 front, that 1 sliould be in a position to testif\- 

 t ) the remarkable, and to me extraordinary, 

 Army Veterinary Corps organisation, that exists 

 at the front in the interests of animals. 



"(Jwmg to the kindness of the authorities, 

 I was allowed to traverse a considerable 

 amount of country occupied by the English, 

 and, owing equally to the kindness of the 

 I'Venrh authorities, I was allowed to rarr\- 

 out the same inxestigation in !•' ranee. 1 was 

 aided in e\-erv concei\ablc wa\- b\- the kind- 



ness of those in authority, and I had the 

 oi)portunity of inspecting the whole of the 

 horses of the three Indian Cavalry Divisions, ■ 

 and most of the transport horses, and, with 

 certain exceptions, it would be no exaggera- 

 tion to say that I saw the bulk of the horses 

 at the front. 



" I had the opportunity of going to the 

 second lines ( "animal lines"), and thence to 

 the third and fourth lines and more southern 

 bases, and I saw e\-ery remount and hospital 

 base. I think, therefore that I am fully 

 entitled to express an opinion as to the work 

 of the Army Veterinary Corps and the 

 Remount Department 



" I had heard much of the difficulties and 

 sufferings connected with the animals, but 

 I have not the slightest hesitation in assuring the 

 whole 01 the English horse- loving world that ! do 

 not believe, in all the various departments of the 

 Army, there is any branch of it that deserves 

 more credit, and shows more astonishing foresight 

 in the preparation, alleviation of suffering, and 

 general superintendence of the animal than do the 

 Army Veterinary Corps and the Remount Depart- 

 ment, 



I was enormously impressed by the 

 health and vitality of all the horses that I 

 saw. 



" At No. 1 base I found hospitals that 

 had been built with stable shelters for the 

 horses, constructed of iron. These had been 

 easily erected and are divided up into sections, 

 and every hospital within a certain distance 

 from the front is calculated and based on the 

 thousand horse system. In other places the 

 ground had been most magnificently selected. 

 Nothing could be more ad\antageous in the 

 interests of the aninial. 



" I found that the veterinary surgeons, somc^ 

 of whom I knew, were most capable. The 

 dressers were all that could be desired. The 

 operating theatres were arranged as perfectly as 

 could be done in our own City of London, The 

 instruments, medicaments, and everything neces- 

 sary for the respective hospitals were of the finest 

 quality, and, to my great surprise, up to strength 

 for all requirements, and most fully equipped. 



