Joan Dorothy Barton with one of her many beloved dogs.
A dog lover whose beloved pets were cared for by Blue Cross vets and nurses has remembered our charity by leaving an extremely generous legacy to help animals in need.
Mrs Joan Dorothy Barton, who passed away in September 2016 aged 81, kept dogs for the best part of 60 years and each of them was a central and most important part of her family.
When her pets became unwell or needed routine treatment, Mrs Barton brought them to our Victoria animal hospital in central London for our vets to give them the help they needed.
Mrs Barton's friend and executor, Father John Walker of St John's Parish in south London, said: "[Joan] and her husband did not have any children and Joan's dogs were always – for the best part of 60 years – a very important part of her life. Yorkies and Chihuahuas her much loved companions and all of them spoilt beyond imagining.
Mrs Barton lived an exciting and glamorous life as a young woman and worked as a model in high-class salons on Oxford Street in the 1950s and early 60s, and socialised with high society and famous faces of the day, as well as the Kray brothers. A working class lady, Mrs Barton was not wealthy but wanted to give back to the charity who had helped her and her pets during her lifetime by gifting her flat to Blue Cross on her death.
In her later years, Mrs Barton used our animal ambulance service to seek treatment for her Yorkshire terrier, Kim. The service, where we collect the pets of people who are unable to bring their pets to our hospital due to illness or disability, offers a lifeline to owners whose pets need veterinary attention but cannot make the journey to our hospital.
We are ever so grateful to Mrs Barton for her kind gift, which will indeed make sure that a great many more pets and their owners can benefit from treatment.