“It was my first time attending an ARAN event, but it will be the first of many. I kept fighting the tears back as I could feel the sense of frustration and compassion amongst your many other supporters.” — Yvonne Lynch

“This is the very reason why I am heavily involved with all your work.” — Martin Geoghegan

“I'd say there were easily over a 100 John. Many stood in support even if not holding cards. And some could only attend for short periods & their presence may have been missed. Well done on all your hard work.” — Actor Rachel Pilkington

“Yet again, superbly well coordinated and organized. Your touch of a warm welcome, radiance and kindness is apparent.” — Rodney Rice

There can be no mistaking the fact, our members and supporters are some of most inspiring, dedicated and compassionate people out there, and let us tell you why. 

The many whom attended our recent 11^th hour 'Ban fur farming in Ireland' protest rolled up their sleeves to brave the most horrendous wind and rain in quiet sometime. For the roughly one hundred attendees who kept coming and going from the event there was a mixture of emotions that could clearly be seen and felt from anger, frustration, determination and more importantly compassion. As our billboard rolled up outside the Department of Agriculture, banners began unfolding, placards were distributed and people were been welcomed along. Chants of all sorts started from ARAN’s flag-chant ‘There’s No Excuse for Animal Abuse’ to more direct chants exposing the fur trade and Irish fur farms. Seven photographers from the media attended in total covering various shots doing what they could do despite the rain severely disrupting the images and shots they were looking to get. ARAN delivered a hard-hitting, informative letter into the Minister’s office with a report and investigation into Irish fur farming. Supporters travelled from Mayo, Galway, Limerick, Clare, Cork, Waterford, Tipperary, Carlow, Kilkenny, Laois, Offaly, Kildare, Wicklow, Drogheda, Meath, Navan and beyond for this event. Compassionate TD Maureen O’ Sullivan also attended in support.

The demonstration moved from the Department of Agriculture to where the Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny and Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney were due to convene which was at the Shelburne Hotel where protesters lined the front entrance and the main road with banners and of course various chants directly hitting all areas of the fur trade showing our anger and genuine frustration and shame on Irish politicians for doing very little to protect animals. As the demonstration got underway both the Prime Minister and Agriculture Minister passed by - briefly stopping to look and carried on into the hotel. The demonstration finished as agreed at 2pm with a touching plea for all attendees to keep speaking out against cruelty to animals and to re-double their efforts.

Watch great footage of our demonstration, click here. ARAN’s special ‘Ban Fur Farming in Ireland’ campaign Facebook page has hit nearly 10,000 ‘Like’s since the first week of December 2011. If you’ve not already hit ‘Like’ then please do so today. Click here.

ARAN would like to thank our colleagues at Respect for Animals, The Fur Free Alliance and the Danish based, Anima for their support and consistent efforts for our campaign to ban fur farming here in Ireland. ARAN would also like to take this opportunity to send our heartfelt thanks and appreciation to our members, donors and monthly giving supporters. You are the very ones who are ARAN. You honestly make everything that we do, possible. You are the very ones who ensure that we remain a vibrant voice for the animals and we genuinely could never do it without your support. We often sat and thought what it would be like here in Ireland if ARAN did not exist? It’s heartbreaking knowing that there is a world of animal suffering out there – but please know that one can make a difference, that very one is you.

In other news! ARAN continues to generate news coverage for our campaigns that spotlight animal abuse. Recently, Limerick’s 95FM, Newstalk and 4FM spoke to us about horse racing and the cruelty involved – with the 4FM interview discussing various other issues too. We took a call from Dublin’s 98FM about greyhound racing and the cruelty involved. The Irish Examiner ‘Weekend’ Magazine gave the fur campaign cover story with three full pages inside and gave us fantastic coverage andsomewhat last word with the journalist not agreeing with wearing real fur – the magazine has a reported readership of over 200,000 readers. Clare FM requested ARAN for an interview on a cruelty case. Dozens of news and celebrity internet sites covered Anjelica Huston’s letter on behalf ARAN and PETA’s behalf, Irish newspapers such as The Daily Mail and Irish Mirror also coverage the story. The online news site thejournal.ie gave good coverage too.