CEO Update

One of the most valued items in my office is a register written in the beautiful, long-handed script of Mrs Lort Smith.  Its pages open on the 10th of March, 1930 and they record every single animal cared for by this Hospital, right through to the 1950’s when she died. This beautiful, leather-bound book, in a very real sense, represents the spirit and passion of the Hospital. That book, in different forms, continues to this day and I am proud to be included within its pages. As I scan through the figures and treatments of Mrs Lort Smith’s original treatise, I am constantly inspired by her pioneering and ground-breaking achievements. With her passion for animals, she truly did ‘take the lead’ and our wonderful Hospital of today bears testimony to that. I am also proud that we are still able to follow that pioneering spirit as we continue to be creative and innovative.

Along with other animal welfare agencies, Lort Smith has for many years been critical of the selling of animals in pet shops and little seems to have changed for decades. In the spirit of ‘taking the lead’ Lort Smith has decided that the best way to bring about change is to work with a leading player in the pet industry. With hundreds of large retail pet care stores across the world, Pets at Home is expanding throughout Australia. As part of an agreement with Lort Smith, in December 2007 Pets at Home took the unprecedented step of removing all dogs and cats from sale to highlight the risks associated with consumer impulse purchasing, which contributes to the abandonment of more than half a million dogs and cats each year. Instead, pet retailing has been replaced with pet rehoming. 

In each of the Pets at Home stores, there will be a Lort Smith Animal Hospital Adoption Centre. All animals for rehoming will come through Lort Smith and will be Vet checked vaccinated, wormed, microchipped and desexed.

We are also ‘taking the lead’ with our recently announced partnership with the Royal District Nursing Service. RDNS CEO, Dan Romanis, and his staff have been increasingly concerned about the impact pets were having on the treatment regime of their patients, more specifically, patients not wanting to go into treatment in cases where there was no one to care for their pets while they were undertaking treatment. In response to this, we have now launched a pilot program whereby Lort Smith and RDNS in partnership care for pets and patients respectively.

Supporters of the Lort Smith Animal Hospital will know that Mrs Lort Smith founded the first animal welfare league in Australia, Animal Welfare League Victoria, and that this organisation is synonymous with the Hospital. There are other animal welfare leagues in other States of Australia, which, until this point, have operated independently. Throughout 2007, the Lort Smith Animal Hospital/Animal Welfare League of Victoria has ‘taken the lead’ in bringing those organisations together and helping them to form a National body, Animal Welfare League Australia, enabling us to operate on a National as well as State-based level.

Over the past year, we have achieved the greatest level of media awareness in our history, with massive coverage in the print and electronic media. In recognition of the fantastic contribution that the Hospital makes, Channel Nine has agreed to film and broadcast a Nationwide Lort Smith television series entitled ‘Animal Emergency’. Film crews have been shooting material in 2007 for the series, which will be broadcast in the next couple of months. Stay tuned for the exact broadcast dates!!

Ric Holland.