We received a call on The Cinnamon Trust emergency line one Saturday morning in September from Louise, the neighbour of William Moye in Battersea, London, to say that the previous night she found Bill on the floor, barely conscious. Louise lives in a flat that overlooks Bill’s and she would often look through her window to see him in his kitchen with Harry, his lovely dog. On Friday she realised that she had not seen him for a while and was staring through the window when she saw Harry acting strangely, and pacing back and forth. She continued to watch with growing concern when suddenly she saw an arm reach out to pat Harry’s head. It was obvious that Bill was on the floor, just out of sight, and if he hadn’t moved to pat Harry she would never have seen him. Louise went straight to Bill’s house, thankfully the back door was unlocked, and she called an ambulance straight away. Next to the phone was our number which clearly stated that in case of emergencies, call The Cinnamon Trust to look after Harry. By the time the ambulance arrived it was quite late so Louise decided to make sure Harry was ok and call us first thing. An hour after we took Louise’s call we had a volunteer on her way to collect Harry and all his things.
We called the hospital to see how Bill was but were told that he had not regained consciousness and had passed away not long after he had arrived. When we spoke to Louise to tell her the news she was sad, but not surprised, as he had been very ill. He had lived in the property since he was 2 years old when he moved there with his Mum. He married but his wife had died a few years ago and they had no children. With no relatives, Harry was the only family Bill had. We reassured Louise that Bill had made arrangements with The Trust and registered Harry years ago just in case anything happened to him. Harry would be safe with us.
“My name is John, long-term foster carer for Harry.
Harry came to me at the end of September after living with the same family all his life in the city. It has been quite a change for him as he now lives in a very rural part of the countryside and he has adapted very well.
I have 2 ponies which I carriage drive with and as you can see from the photos, he has been on the carriage, and I’m hoping to take him out when the weather changes. I think Harry is loving his new way of life with me and I’m so pleased The Cinnamon Trust matched him up with me as we get on so well together!”
