This day in history: President-elect of of state veterinary association says experimental surgery on strays saves pets; Man told to ‘stick ‘em up’ is found unconscious by nurses

From 1975: Plenty of people were upset about a Spokane city policy to sell stray dogs for medical research – but the president-elect of the Washington State Veterinary Medical Association was not one of them.

He said the practice had saved thousands of lives.

“Due to experimental surgery on animals, which would have been put to death anyway by local pounds, we have developed a number of new surgical techniques – particularly in the field of heart surgery,” he said at a convention in Spokane.

He said that he had personally toured animal research facilities and “can vouch for the fact that the animals are treated better than they are at Humane Society facilities.”

Spokane voters would soon get a chance to weigh in on the issue in an upcoming election.

From 1925: The nighttime telephone operator at Sacred Heart Hospital walked out on the hospital’s front porch because he noticed the lights were on.

The next thing he knew, “a tall man with a dark suit told me to stick ’em up.”

He did, and the robber began searching him. The telephone operator had no money – only a bunch of keys – and that “seemed to aggravate the holdup and he struck me over the head” with a revolver.

That’s all he remembered. He was found unconscious on the steps by nurses an hour later and was treated for his injuries.

Also on this day

(From onthisday.com)

1916: Britain’s Mark I “Little Willies” at the Battle of Flers-Courcelette signify the first use of tanks in warfare.