A happy 150th birthday to Battersea and to celebrate, Garry Jenkins has written this welcome history outlining the development of the home from those early days as the Home for Lost and Starving Dogs in a Holloway side street. There are plenty of archive photographs, engravings and illustrations to illuminate the text showing just a few of the millions of dogs – and cats who have been saved by Battersea. Even with much expanded premises it’s still bursting at the seams, dogs and cats still being abandoned and abused in great numbers. Buy this and you can enjoy a book packed with wonderful stories and ensure more pennies in the coffers – all royalties go to the home.
A Home of Their Own : The Heart-warming 150-year History of Battersea Dogs & Cats Home Synopsis
Battersea Dogs & Cats Home is the best-known animal sanctuary in the world. Since it first opened its doors in 1860, millions of abandoned and abused pets have benefited from its refuge. Around the world Battersea is a byword for compassion and hope. It hasn't always been this way. Victorian London had little time for canine strays, and homeless dogs were routinely destroyed. During its early years the Home was threatened by financial crises, eviction and legal action by neighbours upset by the constant barking. Yet the Home not only survived, it thrived. Here is the story of this remarkable institution. At its heart are the characters that made Battersea what it is today, from Mary Tealby, the extraordinary founder of the Home, to Airedale Jack, the dog who became a hero in the trenches of the Great War. Through both triumphs and tragedies, it is a book that will warm the hearts of animal lovers everywhere.
Garry Jenkins is an author and journalist. During a twenty-five-year career he has written for magazines and newspapers on both sides of the Atlantic, from Elle and Esquire to Time Out and The Daily Mail. He now writes regularly for The Times. His many books include Colonel Cody & The Flying Cathedral, a historical biography of the first man to fly in Britain, and Play It Again Tom: Curious Truths About Cats & Dogs (written under the pseudonym Augustus Brown). As a ghost-writer he has collaborated on a number of dog-related titles. He lives with his family in London.
