why veterinary dispensaries ?

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The veterinary dispensaries , cornerstones of the Prince Laurent Foundation , meet a real social need as Prince Laurent himself underlined :

"It is heart-rending to see that more and more people have to deprive themselves of the bare essentials of life in order to be able to provide the indispensable veterinary care for their animal".
The dispensaries provide an answer to the problems facing the elderly, the sick, the handicapped, the lonely or those doomed to live in seclusion and loneliness in a society increasingly prosperous, but unfortunately also providing evidence of an ever growing number of people living in bitter poverty.

Yet, although it is obvious that the animal dispensaries of the Prince Laurent Foundation are a real necessity, they find themselves nevertheless without any state or official subsidy. They have to rely on sponsoring, on patronage, on contributions from the friends of the Foundation, but also on volunteers willing to devote their time welcoming master an animal with due respect and human warmth.

The success of the dispensaries of Brussels, Antwerp, Seraing and Hornu provide ample evidence that more and more people find themselves in need (more than one million people in our country are living inpoverty).		   pourquoi des Dispensaries ?

 
This success, however, is no reason for satisfaction for in a just and more equitable society such dispensaries , where animals of people with very small incomes are treated gratuitously should not have any "raison d'etre" at all.

Until October 2001, the animal dispensaries of the Prince Laurent Foundation mainly provided curative care (consulting, delivery of free medicaments, surgery) for companion animals belonging to people in need. Since then, however, the ¨Prince Laurent Foundation has extended its activities to preventive care (vaccinations, castrations and sterilisations) based on the principle that if these persons lack the financial means to have their sick animal looked after properly, they will neither be able to pay for preventive care required.