Elena spent much of her life in Canada rescuing animals, bringing home everything from injured birds, abandoned kittens, a litter of puppies that were about to be drowned, rescue dogs, a lamb and kid goat (much to her parents’ delight) and a foal that she then raised. Growing up in the country, she saw the worst of many farming practices in dairy, pig and chicken farms and would sometimes sneak into farms to comfort the young calves torn from their mothers.

In later years, she took to campaigning for wildlife, with a focus on protecting wild salmon that fed the eagles, bears, wolves, orca, and many other species, which led to campaigning against salmon farms and the negative impact they had.

She now lives in the Wirral with her two kids, two rescue cats, two rescue rabbits, and a rescue greyhound and spends what spare time she has helping at a horse and pony sanctuary, working with those who’ve lost their trust in humans.