AN ANIMAL RIGHTS campaign group is to hold a protest march in Dublin city centre later today as part of its push for tougher laws in the revised Animal Health and Welfare Bill.

Animal Rights Action Network (ARAN)  is calling on the government to introduce tougher jail sentences and heavy fines for people prosecuted for abusing animals and wants psychiatric intervention in cases of extreme animal cruelty.

It also wants tougher sentences for people who are caught keeping animals in unsuitable conditions.

Ahead of the event, ARAN’s director John Carmody said that “as a nation we should be hanging out heads in shame that we’ve turned our banks and a blind eye to the immense amount of animal abuse taking place in Irish society today”.

“Irish politicians are certainly to blame for much of what is happening to animals simply because they have ignored the plight of their suffering for so long and stuck us with a law that dates back to 1911,” he added.

“It is time politicians recognised that there are voters out there who care about animals and that their lack of support for animal welfare will not be ignored the next time these politicians come knocking on our doors.”

ARAN says it also wants to see the government ensure that fur farms are banned in Ireland this year.

The ARAN demonstration begins at the O’Connell Street entrance to the Garden of Remembrance at 2pm today.