Article by Hadrian Pet Hotel
Making Keith so Proud
The owner of a pet boarding service hopes to keep her husband’s memory alive by making the business stronger than ever with modernising plans.
Joan Brown, originally from Morpeth, runs Hadrians Pet hotel in Matfen, a boarding service for pets that she used to run the hotel with her husband Keith, who died in 2020 at the age of 75.
Before running and setting up the pet hotel, Joan used to work in social care and was the ‘invisible’ partner to the pet hotel as it was her husband Keith’s passion.
She said:”Keith was ex-police dog handler and served 32 years for Northumbria Police force as a senior police dog training instructor.
“When he retired he did not want to sit around, so we decided to open up a pet hotel.
“Keith was the main boss and I was the ‘silent’ owner as there was no point in having two owners. Anyway, I was used to working with people and not dogs, so I was quite happy.
“However, when Keith died, I became the public owner.
“After Keith passed away, I felt that my opinions towards dogs had changed and now that I have three dogs of my own, I cannot imagine my life without them.
“They were always Keith’s dogs but I feel like they have transferred their love to me.”
