The founding of North Melbourne’s Lost Dog’s Home - 1913

Community dissatisfaction with the handling of Melbourne’s lost dogs came to a head in 1910 with the following article in Melbourne’s Argus newspaper …

“When we hear of a little dog being forcibly taken from between the two hands of its mistress: of another being lassoed while following its owner, a little girl, along the street, and of the tearful requests for its restoration being refused; and of a third being snatched up while in attendance upon the cart of a Chinese, it is time to protest, and to protest vigorously.”

The previous week’s edition of the Argus described the fate of 10 lost dogs who were being auctioned. Only one was bought, for five shillings, despite the buyer offering one shilling for a second dog. Another dog was returned to its owner, a small boy, who was forced to borrow the money to buy back his dog for the same amount. And the fate of the remaining dogs was to be drowned by council officers in the Yarra River. Drowning or poisoning were the two options used to dispose of lost or stray dogs.

There had been some individual efforts to care for these dogs but they were mainly uncoordinated and quite inadequate to the size of the problem. Perhaps the most sustained effort was by Lady Clare Lyle, the wife of Thomas Ranken Lyle, professor of natural philosophy at the University of Melbourne. She set up facilities for up to 30 dogs at her home in Irving Rd, Toorak, and established Melbourne’s first lethal chamber.

With the pressure building to take a more systematic approach to the problem, a fundraising committee was founded in the same year. In July a highly successful theatrical performance organised by a well-known actor, Tripp Edgar, raised £150, and was followed by a public appeal that raised the fund to £860.

A committee of concerned men and women was set up in December 1910 with the aim to reunite dogs with their owners, and, where this was not possible, to arrange for their painless destruction.

The search for suitable premises took a long time. There was strong resistance to the home being built in residential areas. After much searching some vacant Crown land was located in North Melbourne which had the advantage of being close to Macaulay Station, on a direct line to Flinders Street Station. Four blocks of land were purchased in June 1912 for £257 and building began. Two honorary veterinary surgeons, Mr W. A. Kendall and Miss Bruce Reid, gave their time and expertise. Bruce Reid was the first woman in the world to graduate in veterinary science. She graduated in 1906 from the old Melbourne Veterinary College that had been set up by Mr Kendall’s father in Fitzroy.

The home was opened in February 1913 by Lady Denman, wife of the Governor General. It had been able to attract some notable patronage: its patron was Lieutenant Governor and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria, Sir Justice Madden, and the Chairman was the influential headmaster of Wesley College, L. A. Adamson.

The home arranged with staff at Flinders Street station for already labelled leads to be made available to members of the public. The home was phoned from the station and the charge of six pence was made for a dog to be carried there on the condition that they were suitably chained. This was later extended so that dogs could be left at any Melbourne or suburban station and carried to Macaulay, with the home being charged on a monthly basis. This continued until 1923.

By 1915 the home had arrangements with several local councils to care for their dogs but Melbourne City Council did not join the scheme until 1917. This proved to be a big problem for the home because the council had a pre-existing arrangement to supply stray dogs to the University of Melbourne. Thus, the home was held by some to be guilty by association of dogs being used for vivisection. This was a procedure that the home specifically condemned.

The large number of dogs that were brought to the home and the lack of adequate funding meant that conditions at the home were not ideal. In 1922 the home had a substantial loss and other liabilities of more than £500. The depression years also impacted on the home’s finances and in 1928, five of the seven members of staff voluntarily sacrificed a total of £200 to assist the home to stay afloat.

In 1926 Charles Lort Smith, a well-known solicitor whose clients included the University of Melbourne and the Victorian Racing Club, took over as chairman. The previous year he had married Louisa Montgomery, a pianist who had also taught some of the daughters of Melbourne’s elite to dance. Louisa and her sister, Marion, were both passionate about animal welfare and they were to have a significant influence on the development of animal welfare in North Melbourne. But to learn about this you will have to wait until the next edition.

Felicity Jack has written two books, Faithful Friends that deals with the early history of the Lost Dogs’ Home and the Lort Smith Animal Hospital, and the Kindness of Strangers, the history of the Lort Smith Animal Hospital. The former is available from the Hotham History Project website, the latter is available from Spinifex Press •