Captain Appleton's idea, however, was something entirely different from
this. These creatures, he argued, have a right to their lives and the
pursuit of happiness after their own fashion, and he proposed to help
them to enjoy that right. He appealed to a few sympathetic friends and
gave two or three acres of land from his own estate, near "Nonantum
Hill," where the Apostle Eliot preached to the Indians, and where his
iodine springs are located. He had raised a thousand or two dollars and
planned a structure of some kind to shelter stray dogs and cats, when
the good angel that attends our household pets guided him to the lawyer
who had charge of the estates of Miss Ellen M. Gifford, of New Haven,
Ct. "I think I can help you," said the lawyer. But he would say nothing
more at that time. A few weeks later, Captain Appleton was sent for.
Miss Gifford had become deeply interested in the project, and after
making more inquiries, gave the proposed home some twenty-five thousand
dollars, adding to this amount afterward and providing for the
institution in her will. It has already had over one hundred thousand
dollars from Miss Gifford's estates, and it is so well endowed and well
managed that it is self-supporting.
The Ellen M. Gifford Sheltering Home for Animals is situated near the
Brookline edge of the Brighton district in Boston. In fact, the
residential portion of aristocratic Brookline is so fast creeping up to
it that the whole six acres of the institution will doubtless soon be
disposed of at a very handsome profit, while the dogs and cats will
retire to a more remote district to "live on the interest of their
money.
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