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Do you want to stop the cruelty to animals inherent in the fur industry and the circus?

Join us for a full weekend of protest, starting on Fur Free Friday (11/27) from 9:30-11:30 a.m. at Ribnick Fur & Leather, 224 N 1st St. in Minneapolis. Then continue at the Target Center, 600 1st Ave. N in Minneapolis to protest the Zuhrah Shrine Circus with the first protest at 12:45 to 1:30 p.m.

These events are being organized by the Animal Rights Coalition and Minnesota Animal Liberation.

PLEASE COME OUT! All materials will be provided, but feel free to bring your own message to Ribnick Fur and the Shrine Circus.

See entire circus protest schedule here: https://www.facebook.com/events/167545916923130/

Thanks to many generous donors, including many of you who also volunteer your time, and to everyone who shared or liked our posts, we came in well over last year for funds raised on Give to the Max Day to continue our work to help animals! This included contributions from nearly 40 brand new donors who committed to helping animals!

It’s moments like this when so many members of the community come together to take action that prove our power to incite change.

You are amazing.

With love and gratitude,
ARC Staff and Board of Directors

If you’re a Minnesotan, you’ve probably heard of Give to the Max, our state’s awesome day of giving.

For 24 hours on Thursday, November 12, Minnesota-based non-profits will celebrate the work we do to make the world a better place by asking our supporters to donate to causes dear to their hearts.

Most of our lives are pretty comfortable compared to a duck on a foie gras farm, an elephant in a circus, a male baby chick tossed out like garbage, or a homeless cat digging in the trash for food. Donating to ARC provides the support to ensure we can advocate for these animals in need. Please donate now – even a small amount makes a big difference. This is definitely the time to hop on the bandwagon and join in the fun of giving!

While many people jump at the opportunity to get close to animals by buying exotic animal rides at fairs and fests, they probably wouldn’t if they knew about the suffering the animals endure being treated as amusement park attractions.

Much of the violence isn’t seen by the public because the owners of these operations know that people would be enraged if they knew how these animals are punished and beaten into submission. They have to make the elephants avoidant to punishment so that they will behave in front of spectators.

These animals are chained for many hours every day. They are trucked around the country in small trailers or trucks. If they were allowed to live in the wild, they would have extensive social networks and travel miles upon miles every day. But when they’re sentenced to being “rides”, they have to plod in boring circles day after day with hundreds of pounds on their backs, for hour upon boring, uncomfortable hour.

Yet, despite this, the Minnesota Renaissance Festival continues to feature exotic animal rides.

Join us in protest Saturday, October 3rd from 10am-12 noon. We will meet at the Highway 169 entrance at 3525 145th Street West in Shakopee. Signs will be provided, as will literature to hand out. All you need to do is show up with your sunscreen on and water in hand. If you’d like to carpool from the ARC office in south Minneapolis, please post in the Facebook event.

A heartfelt thank you goes out to everyone who donated to our animal advocacy programs in 2014. We were thrilled by the number of donors who recognized that our work is showing real results. Without your loyal and generous support the Animal Rights Coalition could not exist. You make our victories for the animals possible.

If you meant to make a donation before the end of the year, but time got away from you, no worries. Make your donation to ARC now and feel good about starting the New Year off right!

We’ve had a very strong finish to the year with ExtraVEGANza events at two Whole Foods markets featuring vegan shopping tours, food samplings, and cooking demos; a second screening of the film COWSPIRACY that once again sold over 100 tickets, selling out the Lagoon Theater; and our annual Turkey-Free Thanksgiving potluck which brought in over 120 people, with many new faces in attendance. Our Cuddle Coats program reached a major milestone and recently sent its 600th fur donation to one of our 38 wildlife rehab partners, and fur donations to this program are showing no signs of slowing. We had well attended demonstrations at the Shrine Circus and at Ribnick Furs for Fur-Free Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year, and a great Pay Per View event at North Hennepin Community College to a diverse and interested group of students. Finishing off a year of very successful educational outreach, Dallas Rising, ARC’s Executive Director, gave a well received talk about speciesism to 145 people as part of the Normandale College Colloquium Series.

So make a year-end donation to ARC now. We so appreciate not only your support, but also your vote of confidence in our work to save the lives of animals. With people like you on our side, we look forward to making even more of a difference for animals in the year ahead, never letting anyone forget that animals matter.

The Animal Rights Coalition invites you to join us at our annual Holiday Open House on Sunday, December 7 from 1:00pm – 4:00pm. Enjoy delicious vegan appetizers from the Herbivorous Butcher and of course, lots of sweet treats too, meet other ARC members and friends, and browse for animal-friendly holiday gifts from Ethique Nouveau’s great selection of unique merchandise. This event is always a fun low-key way to connect with other members of the community. Location is the ARC Office at Ethique Nouveau, 317 W 48th St. in Minneapolis.

Did you know that ARC speaks to many classes and student groups? We regularly talk to young adults and college students about subjects such as speciesism, animals and food ethics, our treatment of animals and relationship to animals, sustainability and environmental issues related to food, and food justice at places like Fridley Middle School, Southwest High School, Augsburg College, Hamline University, Mankato State University, Metropolitan Community & Technical College (MCTC), and Normandale College.

We’ll be reaching out to educators at the Education Minnesota Professional Conference on Thursday, 10/16 and the Twin Cities Social Justice Education Fair on Friday, 10/17, and we’ll be speaking at the St. Cloud State Global Social Responsibility Conference on 10/20 and North Hennepin Community College on 10/27.

If you would like someone from ARC to speak at your school, civic organization, Girl Scout troop, or church group, email Dallas Rising at dallas@animalrightscoalition.com and we’ll set something up. You can also download and print a copy of our new brochure Ethical Values and Our Relationship with Animals to give to educators and group leaders about our presentations.

Would you like to warm the hearts of injured wildlife? Join us for our Bake for Their Sake vegan bake sale on Sunday, September 14 from noon-4 p.m. at Ethique Nouveau, 317 W 48th St. in Minneapolis. Indulge in all of your favorite vegan goodies for a great cause. Proceeds from the bake sale will benefit ARC’s Cuddle Coats program which accepts donated furs and accessories and ships them to our partner wildlife rehabilitation centers for orphaned and injured wildlife to cuddle with during the rehabilitation process. We have a huge stack of donated furs piled up and we would like to get them shipped as soon as possible! To volunteer at the bake sale or bake vegan goodies for this event, please contact Alex Beane at alex@animalrightscoalition.com. Volunteer bakers are asked to bring a copy of the recipe.

Are you sad because you couldn’t make the September screening of COWSPIRACY? Wipe those tears because tickets just went on sale for a second screening on Thursday, October 16, 7:30- 9:21 p.m. at the Landmark Lagoon Cinema, 1320 Lagoon Ave. in Minneapolis!

You can buy tickets for the second screening here. There’s lots of buzz about this film; make sure you don’t miss it!