Paradine

As a little girl growing up in London, Christine Paradine adored dogs so much that she used to pretend to walk an imaginary one every day. On holiday in Somerset she even had a pretend horse called Duncan, which she would insist on taking everywhere with her on an imaginary halter, to the great embarrassment of her parents. Christine’s passion for animals was put to good use when in later life she joined the team at the Devon-based animal charity Animals in Distress on a voluntary basis. She helped to set up their rescue centre, and for more than 20 years she devoted a large part of her life to caring for abandoned and neglected animals of all kinds. She wrote Pawprints Through My Life as an account of her many adventures with the animals that came to the centre, from cats and dogs to sheep, rabbits, goats, chickens and ducks.