Animal Hospital & Showfields

Welcome to the OG Vet! This imposing brick structure at Lafayette and Bond was built as “The Free Hospital and Dispensary for Animals.” It was the first institution of its kind in the country, which is actually not surprising. The modern American animal rights movement began in New York City!

The ASPCA was founded at what is now 55 Liberty Street, in lower Manhattan, in 1866. The socialite, Ellin Prince Speyer, founded the Women’s League of the ASPCA in 1906. The Women’s League sponsored “horse vacations” on an upstate farm for the city’s tired workhorses, provided animal watering stations throughout New York all summer long, and taught school children the best ways to care for their pet dogs, cats, and birds.

By 1910, The Women’s League had over 120 members. It officially separated from the ASPCA to become the “New York Women’s League for Animals.” Then, after pioneering an animal clinic on the Lower East Side, the new organization decided to create a permanent free animal hospital. The women raised $50,000 and opened “The Free Hospital and Dispensary for Animals” on March 14th, 1914.

“State of the Art” does not even begin to describe how tricked out the Animal Hospital was! We’re talking a rooftop garden for horses in need of sunshine (and an awesome elevator to get them up there!) The hospital served cats, dogs, birds, and horses into the 1960s.