The origin of the Banian Hospital in Western writing has been traced back to Henry Lord's A Display of two forraigne sects in the East Indies.
[1][2] Here he emphasized the hospital's use for injured birds, alongside commentaries on vegetarianism and protections for insects.
"The Banian hospital at Surat is a most remarkable institution; it consists of a large plot of ground, enclosed with high walls, divided into several courts or wards, for the accommodation of animals; in sickness it for themselves.
At my visit, the hospital contained horses, mules, oxen, sheep, goats, monkeys, poultry, pigeons, and a variety of birds, with an aged tortoise, who was known to have been there for seventy-five years.
The overseers of the hospital frequently hire beggars from the streets, for a stipulated sum, to pass a night among the fleas, lice, and bugs, on the express condition of suffering them to enjoy their feast without molestation."