Former police office leaves money to RSPCA

Chris, 59, who now lives near Llanidloes in Powys, joined Thames Valley police in 1984. She spent 16 years fighting crime and during her time in the force would work along the RSPCA.

Now she has decided to leave a gift in her will to the animal charity.

She said there was often there is a strong link between human and animal abuse.

“When I was a police officer, I was dealing with a woman who was suffering domestic violence. I spoke to her on her own in the garden where I saw rabbit hutches stacked on top of one another with no water bottles. The wife wasn’t allowed to have anything to do with them.

"It was a control thing, her husband controlled both his wife and those rabbits. I called in the RSPCA who acted quickly and removed the rabbits immediately. Seeing something happen like that, something change, and the abuser losing his control of the rabbits, gave his wife the confidence to leave that night too and go into a shelter.”

While working with serious and organised crime units Chris dealt with a dog-fighting ring. Then, while a sergeant in Henley, she caught a badger baiter red-handed.

“We had a call about possible intruders on royal premises which were protected by armed guards. These guards discovered an abandoned vehicle just outside the grounds and we waited to see if anyone would return to it. Two men did return – carrying a live badger in a sack which they were going to take back to Birmingham, where it would be used for baiting by fighting dogs while people placed bets on the inevitable outcome.

"They certainly had a shock when they saw me and the armed officers. Thankfully the badger was released back to the wild, but the men weren’t.”

She said animals have always had a big impact on her. She has ridden dressage horses and has two rescue dogs, Bing, a six-year-old Jack Russell, and Bailey, a 12-year-old Bichon Frise,.

“I always knew I wanted to leave my estate to charity and having worked alongside the RSPCA as both a police officer and a private individual, I wanted to help the charity continue its vital work.

"It is very important for single people to make a Will or their money could just go to the government. I was delighted to leave my estate to the RSPCA and also leave a legacy to Sea Shepherd UK and The Brooke Hospital for Animals in Cairo, Egypt.

After retiring from the police, Chris moved to Wales where she set up a writers retreat where she helps aspiring writers. Last year her memoirs were published by Trinity Mirror. Into the Valley covers her first 10 years in the police force during Thatcher’s Britain; an era of strikes, sexism, racism and AIDS.

She has also recently finished her first fictional novel The Soft Tread of Vengeance - which is currently with two publishers and several agents.