Ruby Benjamin
Born Collingwood, Victoria, Jan 1911
Died Perth, WA, Aug 2006 (aged 95)
​
Ruby Benjamin’s passion for animal welfare, which would later give WA the Swan Animal Haven and the Ruby Benjamin Foundation, began at an early age.
“When she was a child, she used to bring home all the little animals that were in distress,” her long-time colleague Marie Bedford said. “Her mum would say ‘Oh no, not another one!’ Every kind of creature that needed help, Ruby would bring it home.”
Born in working-class Collingwood in 1911, Ruby was the oldest of six children. Her father Edgar was gassed in the trenches during WWI and couldn’t work again, so the family of eight had to get by on his pension.
Ruby married Frank Apted in 1931 and their son Douglas was born the following year.
During WWII Ruby contributed to the war effort by working in the munitions factory at Maribyrnong. After the war, by then divorced, she decided to employ her dressmaking skills by selling her own designs from a shop in Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn.
In 1951 Ruby moved to Sydney with her second husband, Benny Benjamin. She started up a clothing manufacturing business from a factory in Rydalmere, then sold it in the mid-60s to begin another career as a hotel licensee, running pubs from Lithgow to Redfern.
By the time she arrived in WA in 1974, Ruby had already devoted many years to animal welfare, earning life membership of the RSPCA in NSW. Its president described her departure as a sad loss for the people and animals of NSW.
Their loss was WA’s gain, however, as Ruby set about tackling some local problems.
“She came here and found that there were no animal refuges anywhere,” Marie Bedford said.*
Ruby’s enthusiasm and energy, combined with persistence and a down-to-earth attitude, ensured that she usually got what she was after, especially if the welfare of animals was at stake.
Her son Doug tells how, when she was setting up the Swan Animal Haven, Ruby first persuaded the council to provide land on a peppercorn lease, then arranged for a two-bedroomed caretaker’s residence, office block, surgery block, kennels and runs to be built and completely fitted out.
“The whole lot cost nothing,” Doug said.
Ex-RSPCA(WA) President Eric Ball remembers Ruby as “a most delightful lady… a lovely person”.
“When I joined the RSPCA she was its backbone,” he said. “She had a passion for animal care and brewed all that up into creating a foundation of her own.”
That creation, the Ruby Benjamin Foundation, helps low-income earners and pensioners meet the cost of sterilizing their dogs.**
The foundation provides a monetary subsidy and arranges discounts with some veterinary practices.
“Ruby was straight as a die – she had this capacity to pull in funds for her foundation,” Eric Ball said.
Ruby’s sense of purpose guided the foundation to continuing success. In 21 years, with the cooperation of vets from Esperance to Geraldton, it has subsidised nearly 10,000 sterilisations. This has meant fewer unwanted pups, fewer dogs roaming the streets – and a substantial drop in the number that have had to be destroyed. The foundation’s example has also motivated some local councils to offer their ratepayers similar schemes.
Marie Bedford, who is carrying on Ruby’s work at the foundation***, said its subsidies had allowed many elderly people living alone to keep the pets they relied on for friendship and comfort.
She said Ruby’s dedication had been an inspiration and was all the more remarkable considering what she had accomplished at an age when others were retired – Ruby was 74 when she began the foundation in 1985. “It’s very hard to raise money, as you can imagine, but Ruby used to spend hours and hours encouraging people to buy a ticket (in raffles),” she said.
Those long hours of sacrifice were recognized with citizenship awards from State, Federal and local governments, including the 2001 Premier’s Australia Day Award for services to the community.
In 2002, the RSPCA(WA) made Ruby an honorary life member, citing her “hard work, dedication and persistence over many, many years”.
Ruby lost her own dog last year and called the RSPCA to say how much she was missing its companionship.
“We found her a rescue dog and she obviously became very attached to it,” Eric Ball said. “Even in the last couple of days before she died she wanted to make sure that someone was going to take care of the dog.
“That’s indicative of her passion.”
Ruby Benjamin is survived by her son Doug, four grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
(Written by Andy Graham, 2006)
*Not strictly true, as the Shenton Park Dogs Home was operating from 1935 and Cat Haven from 1961.
**And cats.
***Marie died in 2020 and the foundation is now run by a small committee.
