Laura Hamilton was born in Canada and later lived in the US with three dogs and three cats before moving to England to marry Jim, a British Airways captain. After Jim died from cancer, Laura bought a Golden Retriever, whom she named Pilot. Now, seven years later she also has Pilot’s offspring, Lily, who was born with a life-threatening swallowing disability. Lily's amazing story is told in Laura's first book, Lily: One in a Million, A Miracle of Survival. Lily now also features in a children’s book, The Adventures of Lily and the Little Lost Doggie, which was both written and illustrated by Laura. In 2019, Laura was given a Citizen of Honour Award for her work with Lily and Pilot in Pets As Therapy's Read2Dogs program in Fareham, Hampshire. Both Laura's books mention the work her 'girls' do in Read2Dogs.