Maria Daines sings in support of animal rescues worldwide

By isak, May 13, 2009

In the magic world of Twitter, you never know who you will stumble upon. Yesterday was one of those magical stumbles. I was sorting through the requests of followers. For the most part, I am not into the people that tweet every minute or two because they make it hard to follow other people. And I don’t follow the people that are looking for followers just to have followers because I know they will never read my tweets.

I pulled up the twitter page from a request yesterday and it seemed interesting. The name of the website associated with it intrigued me: Rainbow’s Bridge Resident Laika. Well, having been surrounded by animals all my life, I know what the Rainbow Bridge is. And because I DO know what Rainbow Bridge is, I hovered my mouse over the link not sure I really wanted to go there. I am so quick to cry. But things like Rainbow Bridge and videos of animals that have been wronged apparently appeal to some dark part of me, some part of me that cries, feels despair and hopelessness, and finally gets angry. It’s kind of like watching a train wreck. I know what’s going to happen and I am powerless to look away.

After a few seconds, I clicked the link. It took me to a page about a little dog named Laika that had been used in a space exploration experiment in 1957. A dim light went on in my head. I think I knew this story many years ago. Laika had been snatched from the streets of Moscow solely for the purpose of space exploration. She was sent into space aboard Sputnick 2 for the purpose of learning what effects orbiting the earth would have on a living being. A spaceship the Soviets knew would never come back from space. The year was 1957.

As I am reading the story, music starts to play in the background (listen: broadband | modem). It’s a voice similar to Melissa Etheridge… kind of deep and extremely soulful. And suddenly, I realize the song is about Laika, the dog I am reading about. I am now crying and wishing I would stop reading. I know the outcome isn’t going to be good, but my heart still hopes for a happy ending. The only ending that comes is that the little dog finally passes over the Rainbow Bridge.

Now I have to know who the singer is. I find the lyrics and see the name Maria Daines at the end. I subscribe to emusic, a music download website and search for Maria Daines. And sure enough, they have a couple albums by Maria Daines and Paul Killington. One is an album entitled “Music United for Animals” released in 2007.

Bio / Background
‘Music United For Animals’ is a collection of songs written to speak up for animals in distress and each song supports the end of cruelty.

Many animal welfare/rights subjects are explored in the 13 track cd, which includes the ballad ‘I am the owner of this coat’ written to expose the horror of the fur trade.
‘They Wanna Kill (Have mercy on the ice) reminds listeners of seal extermination annually, while the true story of Fozzie Bear, a puppy who died in his rescuers arms tells the tale of dogs bred in puppy mills.

Factory farming is exposed in the rock song ‘Your meat is our murder’ and other topics include fighting with dogs, vivisection, veal trade, bear bile farming and the circus.

The International anthem ‘Rise Up – Make this moment Last’ was written for Marijo Gillis of Welfare For Animals (WAG, New York) and calls for everyone to make a difference.

Proceeds from this cd supports rescue shelters world wide.

Project info – //www.maria-daines.com/bio.html

reprinted from PayPlay.fm website

In the last day or so, she has released another album, “Shelter Me” – a collection of 18 songs for and about dogs, highlighting the need for compassion towards man’s best friend. All funds raised from the sale of this CD are donated to small not-for-profit animal rescue organizations and copies are given freely to those in most need.

My hat is off to Maria Daines. I am awed by her generosity for animals and enthusiastic about her music. If you enjoy listening to a great blues/rock sometimes country sound with a whole lot of soul — something like Melissa Etheridge, Janis Joplin, Gretchen Wilson and sometimes k.d. lang, Annie Lenox, Christine McVie and Bettye Lavette — and you want to support animals all over the world, check out her stuff.

Download a free copy of the song Laika.