Please read. You'll be glad you did.

Ugly the cat
Everyone in the apartment complex where I lived knew who Ugly was.
Ugly was the resident tomcat. Ugly loved three things in this world:
fighting, eating garbage, and, shall we say, love.
The combination of these things combined with a life spent outside had their
effect on Ugly. To start with, he had only one eye and where the other
should have been was a hole. He was also missing his ear on the same side,
his left foot appeared to have been badly broken at one time, and had healed
at an unnatural angle, making him look like he was always turning the
corner.
Ugly would have been a dark gray tabby, striped type, except for the sores
covering his head, neck and even his shoulders. Every time someone saw Ugly
there was the same reaction. "That's one UGLY cat!!!”
All the children were warned not to touch him, the adults threw rocks at
him, hosed him down, squirted him when he tried to come in their homes, or
shut his paws in the door when he would not leave.
Ugly always had the same reaction. If you turned the hose on him, he would
stand there, getting soaked until you gave up and quit. If you threw things
at him, he would curl his lanky body around your feet in forgiveness.
Whenever he spied children, he would come running, meowing frantically and
bump his head against their hands, begging for their love. If you picked him
up he would immediately begin suckling on your shirt, earrings, whatever he
could find.
One day Ugly shared his love with the neighbor's dogs. They did not respond
kindly, and Ugly was badly mauled. I tried to rush to his aid. By the time I
got to where he was laying, it was apparent Ugly's sad life was almost at an
end. As I picked him up and tried to carry him home, I could hear him
wheezing and gasping, and could feel him struggling. It must be hurting him
terribly, I thought.
Then I felt a familiar tugging, sucking sensation on my ear.
Ugly, in so much pain, suffering and obviously dying, was trying to suckle
my ear. I pulled him closer to me, and he bumped the palm of my hand with
his head, then he turned one golden eye towards me, and I could hear the
distinct sound of purring.
Even in the greatest pain, that ugly battled scarred cat was asking only for
a little affection, perhaps some compassion. At that moment I thought Ugly
was the most beautiful, loving creature I had ever seen. Never once did he
try to bite or scratch me, try to get away from me, or struggle in any way.
Ugly just looked up at me completely trusting in me to relieve his pain.
Ugly died in my arms before I could get inside, but I sat and held him for a
long time afterwards, thinking about how one scarred, deformed little stray
could so alter my opinion about what it means to have true pureness of
spirit, to love so totally and truly.
Ugly taught me more about giving and compassion than a thousand books,
lectures, or talk show specials ever could, and for that I will always be
thankful . He had been scarred on the outside, but I was scarred on the
inside, and it was time for me to move on and learn to love truly and
deeply. To give my total to those I cared for. Many people want to be
richer, more successful, well liked, beautiful, but for me.......
I will always try to be Ugly.
*

The Story of Adam & Eve's Pets

   The Story of  Adam & Eve's Pets 

Adam  and Eve said, 'Lord, when we were in the garden, you  walked with us every
day. Now we do not see you  any more. We are lonesome here, and it is  difficult
for us to remember how much you love  us.'

And God said, I will create a  companion for you that will be with you and who will  be a reflection of my love for you, so that you will  love me even when you cannot see me. Regardless of  how selfish or childish or unlovable you may be,  this new companion will accept you as you are and  will love you as I do, in spite of  yourselves.'

And God created a new  animal to be a companion for Adam and Eve.  

And it was a good animal and God was  pleased. 
 


And  the new animal was pleased to be with Adam and Eve  and he wagged his tail.

And Adam said,  'Lord, I have already named all the animals in the  Kingdom and I cannot think of a name for this new  animal.'

And God said, 'I have created  this new animal to be a reflection of my love  for
you, his name will be a reflection of my own  name, and you will call him DOG.' 



And  Dog lived with Adam and Eve and
was a companion  to them and loved them.

And they were  comforted.

And God was pleased.  

And Dog was content and wagged his  tail.



After  a while, it came to pass that an angel came to the  Lord and said, 'Lord, Adam and Eve have become  filled with pride. They strut and preen like  peacocks and they believe they are worthy of  adoration. Dog has indeed taught them  that  they are loved, but perhaps too well.'   
And  God said, I will create for them a companion who  will be with them and who will see them as they are.  The companion will remind them of their  limitations,
so they will know that they are not  always worthy of adoration.'

And God  created CAT to be a companion to Adam and Eve.   



And  Cat would not obey them. And when Adam and Eve gazed  into Cat's eyes,  they were reminded that they were not the supreme  beings.

 


And  Adam and Eve learned humility.   
And  they were greatly improved.  





And  God was pleased.
And  Dog was happy.  





And  Cat . . . 




c
didn't  give a shit one way or the other.

 

Dear Members & Supporters,

Open your eyes to their suffering, turn up your speakers and take just two minutes to watch our inspiring 'All-Ireland March and Rally Against Cruelty to Animals' promotional video that we are asking our army of compassionate followers to forward onto family, friends, and co-workers to encourage them to attend our biggest event ever being held in Cork City. Click here to watch, then forward and be sure to keep the post up on Facebook until the big day. Already we are receiving possibly our biggest response yet to our now fourth rally which is aiming to highlight Ireland's pathetic 1911 animal welfare bill which does shamefullynothing to protect animals in this country. This rally will also highlight all acts of animal abuse, so feel free to make a poster, placard or banner for an issue you feel most strongly about. It's time for modern laws that will protect animals, and it's time for legislation to stamp out heartbreaking abuses that are currently legal in this country. 

MARK YOUR DIARY NOW AND STAND WITH HUNDREDS OF COMPASSIONATE PEOPLE TO SPEAK OUT AGAINST ANIMAL ABUSE IN IRELAND 

When: Saturday, October 29th, 2011 @ 1.30pm Sharp

Where: Grand Parade Plaza, Cork City

As with all of ARAN's events, they are held in a peaceful, professional manner and aim to generate as much widespread public support as is possible. The easiest thing for anyone to do is to turn your head and look away, but on Saturday, October 29th, we're asking our supporters from every corner of Ireland to please take just one day out and stand with us.

Thank you for all that you are doing to help animals, together we are unmasking the face of animal abuse and will one day bring about a society where animals will finally be respected and left alone.

ARAN

'Fighting animal abuse across Ireland'

P.S. ARAN achieves real results and our dedicated work of over sixteen years is somewhat unique in this country. Please consider setting up a standing order or by making a once off gift to enable us to keep fighting animal abuse, we truly want to do more. Visit our website today www.ARAN.ie or log onto www.youtube.com/aranireland to see just a snapshot of our overall work. Events like the above would never be made possible if it were not for a special group of generous, kind donors, and monthly standing order supporters, who enable all our work to continue. However, we need to do more so please help, we are known for our efficient and strict spending of donations so that 100% of your gift goes towards fighting animal abuse, and everyone at ARAN are unpaid volunteers who campaign through long, late nights and are out in all weather extremes highlighting animal abuse and saving animals' lives.

ARAN would never exist if it were not for our hard working

Dear Members & Supporters,

ARAN would never exist if it were not for our hard working, loyal and dedicated volunteers from all walks of life - people who give up their free time and most often go out of their way to bring about positive change for all animals. We know only to well just how depressing animal abuse is – sometimes the easiest thing to do is to turn your back, look away and just wish and live in hope that one day all the cruelty and suffering will end, but sadly it won't, if anything, it enables the abuse to live on. At ARAN we're geared up to face the issues and challenges head on, and whilst most of our work goes on quietly behind the scenes, we're very much out on the streets almost every week reaching out to the younger generation and also to people in general showing them that there is a kinder, more compassionate way of living that does not have to involve the screams, torment and torture of an innocent animal. Please read on…

ARAN volunteers in Cork City manned our information stand on Patrick Street for five full hours. During this time the table was completely overwhelmed by huge crowds of passersby stopping to sign petitions, sign up to get active and learn more - this gave our volunteers a unique chance to talk about our most pressing campaigns and more importantly about kindness towards all animals. Hundreds of leaflets were distributed and hundreds of passersby could not help but see images of animals killed for their skins and animals used in cruel, unscientific experiments - images that we hope will one day spur them onto become more compassionate citizens thus saving the lives of even more animals and sparing them a life time of pain and torment. 

We want to show all our supporters the good work that's going on for animals when we are not lobbing, staging peaceful protests or press photo-calls designed to bring national exposure to the plight of animals, click here to see some early footage of our tabling event in Cork yesterday. 

CHANGING HEARTS AND MINDS

During the table we spoke to many young children and teenagers about cruelty on the factory farm, slaughterhouses, circuses, hunting, laboratories, greyhound racing and much more. We spoke to the parents of children about circuses and almost everyone who stopped by to support our campaigns all spoke about boycotting animal act circuses and pledging to support our 'Stop Circus Suffering in Ireland' campaign. It was empowering to see so many people touched by what our volunteers had to say about cruelty to animals and their inspiring words about getting active to help animals. During one talk to a group of people, our speech brought tears to the eyes of two people whilst everyone else listened to every-word spoken about the cruel face of animal abuse. It's times like this that we'd like every ARAN donor and supporter to see just how much their support is actually helping animals. Remember that times are changing, people are opening their eyes and hearts up to the plight of animals, but there still is a lot of work to do and thanks to our supporters and members at ARAN, we can continue on fighting animal abuse. ARAN's promise to the animals is that, we hear their cries and we're coming to help.

Keep up the good work and thanks for making us a much needed voice for the animals in Ireland.

ARAN

'Fighting animal abuse across Ireland'

WHAT IT TAKE TO DO RESCUE?

WHAT IT TAKE TO DO RESCUE?

   A heart of gold to accept those creatures that don't measure up as "perfect" in the eyes of the rest of the world.

The people skills of a salesperson. . . to convince those that are looking for perfection that they will find it in a rescue dog if they are willing to look a little deeper.

A heart of steel to be able to say no when there just isn't any more room for just one more dog.

The knowledge that you can't save them all.

The ability to smile and speak rationally when the 10th person for the day says "I don't want this stupid dog anymore. . . Take him or I am gonna shoot him."

Some medical knowledge. . . or your rescue vet bill will be bigger than the national debt.

The fine art of fund raising. . . so your vet bill can be reduced to just under the size of the national debt.

Patience for: breeders who don't care, won't help, turn their backs and say it's not their problem.

Patience for: dogs that were incorrectly placed and come to rescue with so much excess baggage that you think they will never be adoptable.

Patience for: owners who want a quick fix.

Patience for: a world that no longer looks at life as a gift and the lives that we create as breeders as nothing short of miracles.

A sense of humour. . . because sometimes a smile on your face is the only way to hide the agony and turmoil in your heart.

A husband with housekeeping skills that are so outstanding that they could be highlighted in Good Housekeeping Magazine. . .

so you can devote your time to all the rescues and be secure in the knowledge that the local Board of Health will not condemn your house.

Personal dogs that will tolerate the never ending stream of four legged orphans, waifs and street urchins that will start arriving the moment you say. . . "I have room."

Children that like being the "token" child to socialize every dog that comes thru the door. . . being able to say "good with kids" is a real selling point.

Magician skills so you can change anything that comes thru the door, from black tri male to long tail and brown eyes, into blue merle female, good with kids, housebroke, crate trained and obedience trained.

The ability to face the paperwork head-on and deal with it. . . or someone you can send it to and say. . . "Here, do something with this mess!"

Grooming skills for those ugly ducklings waiting for their chance to be a swan. . . with a little help from you.

Author  Unknown

"The story seemed to genuinely touch the nation and it was lovely to see the Animal Rights Action Network (ARAN) handing him (Mr. John Byrne) a thoroughly well deserved award for his bravery and concern for animals" — Ian O'Doherty, Irish Independent

Dear Member & Supporter;

If there was ever a memorable moment in ARAN’s sixteen year history, and there’s been a few!, it was on July 12 on Dublin’s O’ Connell Bridge where we presented a homeless Dublin man, Mr. John Byrne, with our ‘Compassionate Citizen Award’ for risking his life to saving his companion rabbit, Barney, who was tossed into the River Liffey by an 18year-old passerby. Mr. Byrne risked his life by jumping into the freezing cold river to save the rabbit and waited for up to forty-five minutes for emergency services to rescue them both. Click here for footage of the daring rescue and to see a story that was to have touched our nation’s hearts. After the rescue, media reports talked about the heroic act of bravery and kindness by Mr. Byrne. That same week, ARAN announced we were to honour Mr. Byrne with our award in recognition for his compassion and fast on the ball thinking that saved the life of his rabbit. We also used this opportunity to get word out to our nation about how animals in our society are so vulnerable, and the need forstronger laws to protect them, our award ended up grabbing the nations headlines, read on! 

Click here for a great Irish Times report. Click here for TV3 5.30pm news footage, and click here for RTE One 6pm news footage. Click here for great commentary and footage of the press photo call.

Kicking off the news of our award were national newspapers The Irish Star, Irish Sun, Metro Herald and Evening Herald, all running stories of our upcoming award. Castlebar fm, Limerick’s Live 95fm, RTE Radio One also did great interviews with Mr. Byrne and interviews with us at ARAN about our planned award. During the interviews we spoke about our offer to spay & neuter Mr. Byrne’s animals, the need for people in general to always spay and neuter, we spoke of Ireland’s outdated 1911 animal welfare bill and our work to bring in new meaningful legislation that will make life harder for those who get sick kicks out of hurting and being cruel to animals, we spoke about cruelty to animals and the 18 year-old facing charges, and, we spoke about why our schools should have a kindness course included in their curriculum in the upcoming school term. Other media outlets that covered our planned award were Utv radio, FM104, Dublin’s 98fm, Q102fm, Today fm, Newstalk, UTV News, RTE.IE, TV3.IE, Limerick Leader, and many more. On Tuesday, July 12 a media scrum began building up for the awards presentation on Dublin’s O’Connell Street. With a throng of reporters, journalists, two TV crews and about a dozen photographers, along with passersby, members of the public and two Gardaí who attended especially for the event to honour Mr. Byrne and some ARAN volunteers and supporters. During the press conference on the bridge, we awarded Mr. Byrne our ‘Compassionate Citizen Award’, amid a barrage of media journalists recording the event and flashing camera bulbs. The media coverage that was to follow was chaotic, our phones were ringing off the hook with radio stations wanting us on air, we had callers ringing up with offers of help, we had people calling up wanting more information on our campaigns and how they can get active, and, we had offers of a home for Mr. Byrne too. We had a call from as far afield as a Brazilian media agency. The media coverage that followed included TV3 News, RTE One 6pm and 9pm News, BBC News, Irish Independent, Irish Examiner, Irish Times, Evening Herald, Metro Herald, Irish Sun, Irish Star, Irish Mirror, Broadsheet, The Journal, Irish World, USA Today, Ballyfermot Echo, Dublin’s 98fm, FM104, Q102fm, Newstalk, Todayfm, RTE Radio One, 4fm, 2fm, Spin, Radio Na Life, Tipperary fm, and many more. We’d like to thank Second Chance Animal Rescue (SCAR) in Shannon, Co. Clare for their generous donation to help care for Mr. Byrne’s animals and to Focus Ireland, the homeless charity who featured our award on their Facebook page that has over 60,000 ‘friends’, leading to a deluge of requests, kind notes of well wishes, new supporters and offers of help. 

Since news broke of this story, whichhas touched the hearts of our nation and movement, we have being inundated with calls and offers of help and support for our campaigns to stop cruelty to animals. We are already filling information requests for animal rights literature and we’re including information on going vegetarian and vegan, providing information on spaying and neutering and giving all these new supporters ways they can get active to help animals! 

Remember, just like the rabbit, Barney, all animals are vulnerable and can’t fight back, please re-double your commitment to stand by ARAN to fight animal abuse, because together we are making a positive difference. 

ARAN

‘Fighting animal abuse across Ireland’ 

P.S. In other news, last week we exposed yet again more hideous animal experiments at Trinity College in The Irish Independent, we also spoke about the need to advance medical research by using modern, sophisticated methods that do not involve the torment and suffering of many millions of animals. Dublin’s 98fm also interviewed a member of ARAN about news of San Francisco looking to introduce legislation to ban pet shops, a move ARAN welcomes. ARAN was also featured in an interview with RTE 2 Television’s ‘Savage Eye’ programme where we were interviewed about sex with animals being legal in Denmark and our calls to have it banned for obvious ethical and moral reasons. Dublin 98fm also spoke with us again this week for almost thirty minutes live on-air about our views on promoting vegetarian and veganism. ARAN is currently working with Humane Society International (HSI) to encourage Irish MEP’s to call on the Canadian government to call off their planned World Trade Organisation (WTO) challenge in relation to the EU wide seal product trade ban. ARAN will also be tabling at Morrissey concerts in Cork on July 27, Dublin July 29 and Belfast July 30, if you plan on attending his concerts please be sure to stop by our information table to get literature, ask questions and to find out whatcampaigns we’re working on and how you can make a difference. Morrissey is an outspoken vegetarian and animal rights supporter. ARAN also welcomed the great news that UK MP’s voted to ban animal act circuses. In the coming months we will be announcing a new ‘Stop Circus Suffering in Ireland’, campaign tour of schools. 

 A full member news briefing will be sent out in due course with more detailed campaign updates.

I died today. You got tired of me and took me to the shelter

Dear Mom and Dad,

I died today. You got tired of me and took me to the shelter. They were overcrowded and I drew an unlucky number. I am in a black plastic bag in a landfill now. Some other puppy will get the barely used leash you left. My collar was dirty and too small, but the lady took it off before she sent me to the Rainbow Bridge .

Would I still be at home if I hadn't chewed your shoe? I didn't know what it was, but it was leather, and it was on the floor. I was just playing. You forgot to get puppy toys.

Would I still be at home if I had been housebroken? Rubbing my nose in what I did only made me ashamed that I had to go at all. There are books and obedience teachers that would have taught you how to teach me to go to the door.

Would I still be at home if I hadn't brought fleas into the house? Without anti-flea medicine, I couldn't get them off of me after you left me in the yard for days.

Would I still be at home if I hadn't barked? I was only saying, "I'm scared, I'm lonely, I'm here, I'm here! I want to be your best friend."

Would I still be at home if I had made you happy? Hitting me didn't make me learn how.

Would I still be at home if you had taken the time to care for me and to teach manners to me? You didn't pay attention to me after the first week or so, but I spent all my time waiting for you to love me.

I died today.
Love, Your Puppy

Via Barbara Blackman.