There's a stuffed dog at Slough train station

Station Jim aka Dog Jim was a canine charity collector who would walk around Slough Station in England with a small wooden box for people to put money in. From 1894-1896 he collected the astonishing amount of £40 for the Great Western Railway Widows’ and Orphans’ Fund.

"He was taught to bark whenever he received a coin; he would sit up and beg, or lie down and “die”; he could make a bow when asked, or stand up on his hind legs. He would get up and sit in a chair and look quite at home with a pipe in his mouth and cap on his head. He would express his feelings in a very noisy manner when he heard any music. If anyone threw a lighted match or a piece of lighted paper on the ground he would extinguish it with a growl."

He was in ill health and died suddenly at the tender age of 2 years, still wearing his coin collecting harness on the platform on the evening of November 19th 1896. He was stuffed and put on display in a case on Platform 5 with a collection slot underneath so, in a way, he’s still collecting for charity.


Via IanVisits