When I was a very little girl I was taken to see the disney film Bambi. It still hurts to watch that film today…my Mother had to take me out of the cinema in paroxysms of grief! I have never then or since been able to bear animal cruelty of any description. At the age of 7 or 8, I saw something on TV about Battersea Dogs home and began raising money for them regularly – usually by showing off in some way or badgering people until they capitulated with a few coins to guess how many sweeties were in the jar – or the weight of the cake. The winners usually received less sweets and cake than they had guessed…

I continued to receive Birthday cards from Battersea well into my teens. In spite of this, I grew up with cats – I was always taught to be wary of dogs and didn’t fall in love with one until relatively recently.

I was singing in a hotel in Cyprus – where the dog and animal cruelty situation is dire – when I first met Izzy. A friend had found her dying on the beach after being dumped and between us we took her in.

She now lives permanently with my friend in Bangkok but I still see her regularly and it is her that I have to thank for opening my eyes to the canine situation world wide. She is sitting at my feet now as I write this blog – she says ‘Whiffle”.

I have now been traveling and singing in and around Asia and Australia for the last two and a half years. After leaving Cyprus at the end of 2007, I visited Nepal where I was horror struck by the plight of the street dogs and spent much of my time attempting to alleviate their suffering with food, flea/tick treatments and trips to the vet.

I did the same on trips to Bali and Fiji and while in Australia volunteered extensively at The Animal Welfare League and RSPCA shelters in Sydney, Melbourne and Darwin – walking, playing with and socialising rescue dogs, as well as cleaning poo – let’s not leave that out, it’s a necessary evil!

I have always been drawn to Thailand and after hearing about Care for Dogs from a past volunteer in Byron Bay, Australia, Chiang Mai seemed the obvious next stop. To simply be able to do service to these wonderful friends alongside pursuing my singing here in CM is a dream come true!

My mantra when I see someone I can help has got to be: ‘Saving one dog won’t change the world but surely, the world will change for that one dog’, thankfully they are saving my life too – the joy they bring me is immense.

Ana rak maa maak maak!

If you’re in town – look me up and come to a gig http://www.ana-gracey.co.uk“