Conversations with Madeleine Maiya

Today we’d like to introduce you to Madeleine Maiya.

Hi Madeleine, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I grew up in the country in Indiana with horses and farm animals as my best friends, totally immersed in nature. Our family sold the farm and moved to a neighborhood when I was a teen. Life took its turns as it does. I ended up enlisting and serving in the Air Force National Guard as a military photographer, and transferring my base to California so I could move to Los Angeles to study acting. Soon after moving to the city, I rescued my dog and three kitties. We lived in the city for almost 10 years. After one too many stress induced panics while working at a coffee shop in NoHo, I remembered that I had horse experience! I set out to get hired somewhere with horses thinking that I would just keep my head down, muck stalls, and enjoy being outside away from customers. I was pretty much immediately hired at a mental health facility that boasted a horse therapy program as a mucker. I was thrilled! Little did I know, this facility had adopted six senior rescue horses, put them in an old cattle pen, and provided them with no care for over a year besides having the nursing staff throw hay over the fence when there was hay available to throw. One of the horses had died due to the lack of care, so there were five horses when I was hired to muck the full years worth of manure out of the pen before their upcoming inspection in two weeks. There was no therapy program and the horses were just there to ‘get client numbers up’. I quickly realized the horses were in horrific condition. Overgrown hooves to the point of not being able to walk properly, dental issues making it hard for them to eat, starvation, no shelter, and much more. They were extremely annoyed that I didn’t just show up and quietly muck the manure like they had anticipated. I fought head on with that company as the “mucker” for a year and a half, pushing to get the horses’ basic needs meet and ‘approved in the budget’. I did everything for the horses. I managed their feeding system, medical care, groomed, rehabilitated, exercised them, and of course… I fell in love. Once the company finally saw how costly it was to keep horses, they decided they were going to euthanize one of the horses that had developed a serious hoof condition (because of their negligence), instead of continuing his treatment, and give the other four horses back to the shelter. That’s when I stepped in and took over ownership of them. It was a total leap of faith. I was still living in NoHo! But I knew in my heart I was meant to be their mamma and forever home. I ended up quickly finding a little rental in Topanga Canyon that had an abandoned horse pen right outside the bedroom window! I fixed it up and moved us all there. It was actually a huge undertaking to get the space livable for them. Right when I got them to Topanga, the worst rains in decades that caused the mudslides in 2024 came through! I had my poor dad come out to help me build additional emergency shelters for them. We were slipping around in the mud and rain, totally miserable. Neither of us had much building experience, but it turned out great and I am so proud of it! I went on to utilize my new building skills to create an enclosure and expand my family to include chickens. Childhood me was jumping for joy (and still is). I had come up with the idea to film my chickens as I raised them, to create a documentary that helps bring awareness to chickens. Little did I know I had adopted a surprise baby rooster and that we would sleep in my car together for a night during the Palisades fires! It’s been quite an adventure to say the least. I’m really proud of how the film came out and I’m so excited to give people the chance to see chickens the way I’ve been able to experience them. Where I’ve landed now is still revealing itself, but it’s definitely in the animal activism world through film, advocating, creating, writing, connecting people and animals, and art. I’m against horse back riding after getting to know my horses without riding them, which was a new approach with horses for me. I can see what their bodies have endured throughout their lives, and I learned how hard it is for retired senior horses or unrideable horses to find homes. After fighting that company and getting the exposure to such a unjust world, I have fully formed opinions that I feel passionate about sharing. I started a YouTube channel, Earthlings Uncaged, that I released my chicken film, Uncaged, on and I plan to use as a platform for all of this. A strong intention for me is to be a healing and loving voice, because I have come to deeply know that we would never hurt animals if we ourselves were not hurting. It is of the upmost importance to me to lay a foundation of non judgemental loving openness as I lead by example, offer new ways to see animals, and step into being an active part of our unified movement towards a better world.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Not even somewhat smooth. lol. Honestly, I couldn’t have foreseen half of the obstacles that have come up along the way. I left my comfortable little apartment in NoHo that I had lived in for 7 years with my brother and former best friend. I walked to my day job. I had cheap rent. I was close to the city for auditions and work. It was so easy now that I look back on that time. The hardest part about that chapter of my life was dealing with the relentless feeling inside my heart that kept telling me I was missing something. I wouldn’t trade all the trials and tribulations of the life I’m living now for the angst and discomfort of that feeling. It’s the worst thing. To feel something calling you and pulling you without knowing where to start or what it is. Some of the biggest struggles I’ve encountered as I stepped into this new path have been keeping my head above water financially with all my new undertakings, the physical aspect of my day to day responsibilities, living farther from the city in an area that doesn’t have cell service when the power goes out and Ubers won’t get to if my car is in the shop, and being responsible for keeping all of my animals safe. The Palisades fire came SO close to where we live. When our area got the order to evacuate, ALL of my neighbors were out of there. It was a ghost town. Around 6pm that evening I sent my dogs, cats, and chickens with my trusted neighbor who then took my chickens to another dear friend that let them stay in their bathroom for a few days while I got oriented with my horses. There I was, at the very end of a bumpy dirt road that fire trucks can’t even get back to, with no power or cell service, sitting in my horse pen with my horses at 3am, praying. That’s when I really felt, oh wow, I’m in deep with these animals. I literally will not leave unless we all leave together. I am an animal mother through and through, no matter how challenging this gets. The neighbor who evacuated my smaller animals stayed up all night calling to get horse transportation out to us. She got in contact with two men who were total warriors that rescued hundreds of animals in these fires, and a woman who owned a family ranch in Somis that took my horses in for a couple weeks, and together we all got out of there around 6am. It was not as easy as packing up a car with belongings. I left my house and realized I didn’t even have a bra on! I know so many people are still picking up the pieces from this fire and my truly heart goes out to them. I am so lucky that we got to return back to our space. I shared that because it really was an experience that opened my eyes to how much bigger life gets when you have so many beings under your care. They have put me in situations that have brought me massive challenges that have shaped who I am today. It’s always really crazy to realize that I am the one responsible for them. At first I initially had the instinct to call and ask friends, family, or experts for advice on what to do if a big health issue arises or choice comes up that I have to make, but it always points back to me making the call. At the end of the day the choices I make for my animals and myself are mine to make, and that really blows my mind that I have that level of responsibility in my hands. It can feel overwhelming at times and I just have to breathe into it. It’s all forced me, with so much intensity, to believe in myself. I saw pretty quickly how self doubt had no place in the new life I had chosen. It’s been a mental challenge in every way. To trust the initial decision that I made to change my life so drastically, and that I am capable of everything I took on. I could not have gotten through all of this since adopting the horses without community, friends, family, and the help of strangers. People have blown me away throughout all of this, and I have never felt this level of connection to my fellow humans, family, and friends, as much as before I slushed through some of these challenges.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am very proud of my chicken documentary, Uncaged, that I filmed over the last fifteen months. I hope one day to be primarily known for creative work that is healing and opens peoples hearts to animals, and that shines a light on the powerful, complex, magical beings that animals absolutely are. I feel that I accomplished that in this film, which is why it brings me so much deep pride. I’ve been interested and active in practicing meditation for over ten years now. Through that I have slowly and subtly started to gain access to a deep awareness within myself and a comfort in stillness that I didn’t have access to before. I wanted to tap into that pace and level of sensitivity when I created this piece. I wanted to offer something slow in a world that seems to want to force us to go faster and faster. I know that this film can softly move into the hearts of anyone who allows it to and help people really get to the point of not just seeing a chicken, but sensing a chicken and all the love within them. I believe that once we are all soft, sensitive, open, and patient enough to fully see an animal that is as overlooked as a chicken, the whole world will change.

I think what sets me and my art apart within the animal activism world is my loving approach. There is absolutely a necessity to show the dark side of things in a very intense and brutal manner, sparring no eyes from the terrors that millions of animals endure for our leisure. I am so appreciative of the animal warriors out there who live in this world so that these monstrosities are exposed. There is a place for anger, and trust me, I still feel my fair share of anger and grief. But there are already animal activism groups doing that effectively, and that has never been my approach or how I’ve been the most affective in creating change. I’ve always felt more comfortable leading by example and bringing light to the new world we can walk into. I shine brighter when I shine in Love. I know people want to change for the better and that everyone is doing the best they can in the areas they feel most passionate about. I offer a way of showing people the more loving path without putting an emphasis on what’s wrong. My work puts faith in our ability to know that for ourselves, if we are put into a calm environment and given loving exposure to the brightness and palpable divinity within an animal. We want to choose Love. I know not everyone will immediately go vegan from watching my film. But for that hour and few minutes, they sat and saw a chicken at the highest capacity they were capable of in that moment. The ripple of that is so incredibly powerful. It is literally expansion itself that creates an infinite etch in the direction of harmony and love. That’s enough for me right now. Approaching my work and my purpose in this way also keeps me in good spirits, which to me, is very important.

What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
I bought a five dollar t shirt from a farm supply store around the time I was adopting my horses. It has three horse on it with a bandana tied into each of their manes, and it says “Buckle Up Buttercup”. I knew I was starting something big that would require a lot of mental and physical strength, so the shirt felt appropriate. What I have come to learn over the last few years is that the real need to buckle up comes from when you give a massive, all in, YES to something that feels right in your heart. That the Universe, or simply the light ignited inside of you, is going to start bringing new things and experiences into your life since you made that change, and it’s up to you how much you are able to let in. It will require strength and grit to see it through. But since it is something you chose with your HEART, you have your “why”. Once you have your why, you become a vessel for the energy of Purpose. And ooofff let me tell you, you better Buckle Up Buttercup. Once you open up to the energy of Purpose and you withstand the thrashes of fear and the obstacles that arise again and again because you’re all in with something, you are officially on the ride baby! The fun, the scary, the highs, the lows. Find your seat belt, get excited, and fasten tight. The best seat belts for me are affirmations, self love, finding other inspirational stories, petting my animals, and reconnecting to my why. Full proof crash tested security right there. If I had known how exhilarating and enlivening this was going to be, I may have taken a moment to buckle up and get grounded before hand. But instead I found that seat belt while moving a hundred miles an hour. I learned to take it breath by breath. Following your dreams is worth any discomfort. The Universe always finds justice. It will use you with ACTIVE energy once you say yes. Doors will open, relationships will unfold, and Love always wins. So yeah, buckle up, roll up your sleeves, and press GO.

There is one more lesson that I’d love to share that is super active in my life right now and I’m seeing how massively important it is. I’m a big positive message kind of gal, so naturally I had to buy the garden flag in the sale section at the hardware store when I saw that it said “Live Life in Full Bloom” surrounded by an array of blooming flowers. I hung it in my chicken area where I can see it every day. What I’m really seeing in hind sight is that even though I did take a massive leap into the unknown when my heart told me to, I still held back living at my fullest potential in certain ways. I was still taking baby steps within the new world I opened up. I see now that holding back your truth, what you believe, and how you want to express it, is a disservice to yourself and the world and it only slows down your destiny from unfolding. I’ve learned to not wait to be seen, to stand with conviction in what I know is true in my heart, to own who I am through and through, to share it in all the ways that feel right, and to celebrate it! Now that I’ve finally started to come into full bloom, I really get what that flag means, and how much more vibrant life becomes when you Life in full bloom. And not just one bloom, it’s a series of many blooms that never stop blooming, because we are all full blown botanical gardens! Tapping into this full bloom energy as soon as possible, even if you don’t feel totally ready, makes the ride expand with a lot more color and at an exponential pace. Don’t tip toe around it or wait for the season. Fully bloom now. That is how momentum starts to build. Attracting people, resources, and opportunities that are meant for you becomes easier. What’s not meant for you falls away naturally. Authenticity begins to radiant through you effortlessly. It’s okay to be a work in progress. Just start. You’re worth it. Bloom. Expand. See it through. Believe in yourself. Shine. Thrive. Dance. Play. Rebel. Now.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.VivorsSanctuary.wordpress.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ilovecatsandwater/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jjq8bS2Xr6g
• Other: https://www.youtube.com/@EarthlingsUncaged

Image Credits
Black and white portrait – Matt Kallish

Close up chicken painting is titled “Ari in Watercolor” painted by me

Drawing of all my animals is by me titled “Harmony”