For The Love of Dogs | May 2017

Dogs &people

Better together For the love of dog

When our circumstances change and life falls apart, it’s often our dogs that pull us through. CATHERINE PICKLES talks to Jamie Morgan about his loyal sighthounds and his new venture as a dog photographer

B

eing homeless is something the vast majority of us have never experienced, but according to Shelter, the homelessness charity, 35 per cent of the UK population would not be able to pay their rent or mortgage for more than a month 16 | May 2017

from their savings, if they were to lose their job or their income.

So when a contractor failed to pay Jamie Morgan the £15,000 they owed him, his business collapsed and he lost his home. Most devastating of all, the aspiration and opportunity he had to fulfil a lifelong dream of a new career

almost disappeared into the downward spiral of chaos his life had suddenly become.

No dogs allowed

Young, single and male, Jamie was a low priority for social housing, and emergency accommodation was not able to provide for the two www.dogsmonthly.co.uk

faithful souls who stuck by him – Tri, a Whippet, and Harry, a young Saluki-Lurcher cross. Fortunately, Tri’s breeder offered to care for Tri while Jamie worked out what to do next, but for Harry, that option didn’t exist.

In the short-term, Jamie managed a period of sofa-surfing with Harry, but most of his friends were renting properties with leases that prohibited dogs.

Realising he was starting to put his friends’ housing in jeopardy, he took the only other option available to him, and Harry and Jamie slept in their car for two months. By September 2016, however, he knew they couldn’t carry on like that for much longer.

“I’ve had Harry since he was eight weeks old,” says Jamie. “He’s been my constant companion, and to be honest, when things fell apart he and Tri were my only reasons to keep going. But living in a car isn’t suitable for a dog for any length of time; he needed more space and a normal life. He was only 13 months old, and much as I loved him, I knew I wasn’t being fair. I drove towards a good rescue centre with Harry, thinking that I had no other option. I sat outside for a long time, but in the end I couldn’t bear to go through with it.” www.dogsmonthly.co.uk

“I was stuck in a vicious circle.

I needed to find work to get myself back on my feet, but with nowhere to leave Harry, I couldn’t go to work. Temporary options were offered, but to get working again, I needed something solid and reliable, and not to have to worry about who could look after Harry the following day or week.”

A home for Harry

In desperation, Jamie posted a request on Facebook, asking if anyone was willing to offer Harry a temporary home. Describing

Main image: Harry and Jamie reunited after their ordeal.

Above: Puppy portraits of Harry taken by Jamie.

Below: Sitting outside the rescue centre, wondering what to do.

his living situation and his desire to find a secure solution, the post was shared hundreds of times – largely due to the stunning images Jamie posted of Harry – but he realised he was taking a risk.

“I just hoped someone suitable would approach me. I knew the risks, but after two months of sleeping in the car, and being unable to take him to a rescue centre, I wasn’t going to let ‘just anything’ happen to Harry.”

Eventually, Jamie’s post reached the trustees of Hounds First Sighthound Rescue, but even then,

May 2017 | 17

〉

Secret dream

〈

things didn’t go simply…

“I was relying on a mobile phone to communicate and my battery kept dying. Or I’d find myself in an area with no signal.”

Finally, Jamie made contact, and Hounds First was able to offer him an experienced foster home for Harry. Most importantly, it was an indefinite placement, which meant that Jamie could begin to rebuild his life, safe in the knowledge that Harry was being cared for in a loving and secure environment.

Several conversations later, Jamie felt comfortable enough to drive

Harry and leave him in foster care, though he did wonder when he would see him again.

“The foster carer reassured me that Harry was my dog, and she would never think of him as anything else: I was to get on with sorting everything out.

“She also advised me to stay away from Harry because it would make it harder for him to settle. ‘Come back when you’re ready to take him home,’ she said, and I think that gave me some confidence that I could pick myself up. She made it very clear that she expected me to be back!”

A trained electrical engineer, Jamie had run his own business for many years, but in his spare time, and with increasing passion and commitment, he’d dreamt of becoming a professional photographer.

The images that had captured the attention of the hundreds of Facebook users who’d shared Jamie’s plea for a home for Harry, also carried a secret. Months earlier, he’d entered a picture of two Afghan Hounds in the Kennel Club Dog Photographer of the Year competition. By the time Jamie was made homeless, he knew that, unbelievably, he had won the ‘Dog Portrait’ category, although he was sworn to secrecy not to tell anyone until after the official announcement of the winners.

“The £15,000 that I didn’t get paid, not only did it mean I lost my home and my electrical safety consultancy business, but it was partly ear-marked for me to begin working as a professional photographer. Having won the competition, I’d decided to wait until the winners were announced and then use the money and the publicity to start the business.

Left: Harry sleeping in the car with Jamie.

Below: Jamie’s award winning portrait of two Afghan Hounds.

By the time Jamie was made homeless, he knew that, unbelievably, he had won the ‘Dog Portrait’ category, although he was sworn to secrecy not to tell anyone until after the official announcement of the winners.

18 | May 2017

www.dogsmonthly.co.uk

〈

About the author

〈

So, when I didn’t get paid, not only did my home and my business disappear down the drain, but it looked like my dreams were heading that way as well.”

Night shift

Jamie’s electrical safety consultancy work meant he carried high-level security clearance, so he used that to begin work as a security guard during the night.

“I had nowhere to sleep at night when it was cold, so by working at night, I could sleep in the car when it was warmer during the day. I also got to practise nighttime photography – there’s always a silver lining somewhere!”

Squirrelling away every penny he could, it took him five months to save enough money for a rental deposit on somewhere to live, but after all that had happened, Jamie felt he also needed a completely fresh start, and decided to relocate from Kent to Staffordshire.

Almost immediately, he started to train with Staffordshire Search and Rescue.

“The team is made up of search dogs, boat and mountain bike search teams, and a crowd of search technicians and support crew.

Moving to a new area, it’s a great way to use some of my skills to do something useful, and make friends with similar values and goals.”

Jamie is also lending his photographic skills to Hypo Hounds, a charity run by Jane 20 | May 2017

Pearman, whose daughter, Sophie-Alice, has brittle type 1 diabetes. Hypo Hounds trains pet dogs to provide life-saving assistance for their owners, and Sophie-Alice is supported by Scooby, who has been trained to be a diabetic alert dog.

“Scooby can recognise when my daughter has problems with her blood sugar,” says Jane, “and will alert her to the problem before she is even aware that she could be in danger. Jamie has been great about taking photos for publicity material and we all feel very proud that our photographer is the Kennel Club Dog Portrait Photographer of the Year!”

With a home sorted, and the seeds of a new life developing in

Catherine Pickles is a full-time family carer, a blogger, journalist, author and a regular foster carer for Hounds First Sighthound Rescue. The human author behind the hilarious Worzel Wooface series, she lives in Southwold with her husband Mike, two nearly grown-up children, Worzel the Lurcher and five cats.

Staffordshire, in February – six months after he last saw him – Jamie was able to return to collect Harry.

Reunited

“Reunions are always strange things, aren’t they, and although it isn’t perhaps very manly for a security guard to admit, there were lots of tears! Harry has grown enormously while in foster, and transformed from a gawky adolescent into a young adult. He’s filled out, and, from the neck down, is almost unrecognisable. But his face was exactly the same, and although more self-assured than when I left him, he was my Harry with his very goofy personality and sensitive soul.”

“Now things are settled, I’m almost back on track. Tri will be returning shortly and we’ve all got an enormous amount of catching up to do. After six months of living in a car, eating snacks and sweets, I’ve got to get some exercise! And now with my boy Harry back with me, I’ve got the perfect walking companion.

“I’ll never be able to repay Hounds First and the foster carer for their kindness, patience and support, but by training with the search and rescue team, becoming a volunteer for Hounds First, and with my photography work, I aim to try, not only to ‘pay them back’ but to ‘pay it forward’ as well.” c

Above: One of Jamie’s portraits of Harry.

Left: Harry, happy to be home after his stay in foster care.

www.dogsmonthly.co.uk