I think I've just found my new favourite cartoon! This brilliant illustration was sent to us by the insightful and very talented Donn Pattenden (thanks Donn!).

This is one issue that really stirs me up. The meat and dairy industries are huge water guzzlers. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that one glass of milk takes roughly 200 litres of water to produce. That's almost 3 days worth of showers! But that's nothing compared to the 100,000 litres of water that David Pimentel, a water resource specialist, says is required to produce just 1 kilo of beef!

In a country as dry as Australia, this sort of squandering of water just doesn't make sense. I live in Brisbane, where water shortages are a real threat (just like many of our other cities). We've been told to keep our domestic water usage below 140L of water per person per day...

I'm all for water conservation at home. In fact, we've just installed a new rain water tank :-) ... but when 70% of global water usage is for agriculture, it seems like what we eat and drink would be a smart place for us to start looking at how we can save water.

It's time to put on your party hat, hang up the streamers and shout "OMG!", 'cos we're launching the Unleashed forum! If you've got a burning desire to discuss animal issues; something you just need to get off your chest; or you just want to chat, then head on over to the Unleashed forum and get typing...

You could get started by introducing yourself. We'd love to hear about your 'Light Bulb' moment. Share your latest 'omg I can't believe it's vegan' discovery. Or just head to the Anything Goes section to chat.

See you there!

So mother's day is just round the corner, and if you're like me, you're still umming and ahhing over what to get that special lady in your life (ie. mum)... ;-)

Well um and ah no more, 'cos we've got the thing for you - a gift that gives twice! Put a smile on mum's dial and help mothers in factory farms all at the same time with these delish gifts:

‘Sumptuous Scents’ Gift Contents: 1 x all-natural Ecoya 'wild frangipani' soy candle, 1 x Pure Gaisha 'White Tea & Ginger' solid perfume in a heart-shaped tin, 2 x Constant Craving dairy-free chocolate truffles, and a Mother's Day Gift Card, which highlights how the proceeds from this gift will help shine a light on the plight of mothers in factory farms in Australia.

‘Sweet Dream’ Gift Contents: 1 x Perfect Potion 'Vanilla Bean' lip balm, 5 x Constant Craving dairy-free chocolate truffles (Jaffa Delight, Coffee, Scorched Almond, Coconut, and Apricot Dream), and a Mother's Day Gift Card, which highlights how the proceeds from this gift will help shine a light on the plight of mothers in factory farms in Australia.

Check out the Unleashed store for plenty of other great gifts.

And if you're on a tight budget, never fear! Here are a few creative and cruelty free ideas to help you pamper mum:

• Pick some flowers from the garden and bake her some heavenly vegan cupcakes.
• Make her a delicious brekky in bed, with: fruit salad and fat-free banana pancakes.
• Or visit WhyVeg.com for other great recipe ideas.
• And don't forget to wash up! ;-)

If you pick up this month's Dolly magazine, you might spot a glimpse of our all-time-favourite-Kisschasy-frontman-and-hero-for-animals, Darren Cordeux. Yep. He's at it again. This time round, the outspoken rock star is giving chicks a voice in a full page ad, which begs readers to stop to think about the little guys (or, chickens), who all need our help.

And boy don't they know it. I mean—how's THIS for a chick magnet!?

There's more to this drop dead gorgeous entertainer than you might think. You can hear what else Daz has to say in his exclusive Unleashed video.

Dolly's double page spread on page 40 also highlights the tragic cruelty of fur. Kudos to Dolly for raising such an important issue in its magazine! Animals on fur farms live lives of sheer misery, only to be drowned, gassed—even skinned alive—for their pelts. No wonder The Veronicas are so pissed about it!

Did you see the feature in this month's Dolly? Tell us what you think!

So Easter is coming and I'm getting pretty excited about all the dairy-free easter eggs, hot-cross buns and faux fish I've stocked my pantry with. But one thing that does really get me worked up at Easter, as a Sydney-sider, is the Sydney Royal Easter Show! (for those of you from interstate it's the equivalent of the Melbourne Show, Brisbane Ekka, etc...)

As a child I adored the Easter Show. My Dad used to even let me have the day off school so we could beat the weekend crowds. My absolute favourite part was visiting all the farm animals. Combine this with fairy floss, roller coasters and show bags and it was truly kid-heaven.

Despite being a sensitive, animal-loving child, all the cruelty surrounding the housing, transportation and ultimate slaughter of these animals never clicked. And why would it? The show is set up in a magical, fairytale way with all of the cute animals and none of the horrors that they must endure.

First you might go to the nursery stalls where you see happy piglets, chicks and ducklings playing and snuggling up to their mothers. Then in the dairy stalls they explain the "nutritious benefits" of dairy and make the whole milking process seem totally natural. Moving onto the adult pigs, cows and chickens you stop to pat them, make a connection with them and admire their ribbons. Everything is clean, there is lots of space and the animals look healthy and well groomed.

Then in the next room, there's a diagram explaining which cut of meat comes from which part of the animal. It is here that you might feel a moment's guilt at the fact animals are slaughtered, but you think "well, they obviously have happy lives up until the end, and this nutrition panel says I need meat to be healthy... gee, I think I'll go have a dagwood dog". You then walk off, feeling on top of the world, singing "Old McDonald" in your head ... thinking everythings ok.

What they forget to mention is that baby animals are taken from their mothers in factory farms and that they have painful surgical procedures performed without aesthetic in their first fragile days of life.

Nor do they tell us that a mother cow isn't just milk making machine—she is forced to give birth every year to continue lactating, only to have her baby taken away from her and slaughtered.

Oh and of course they don't mention the fact that these animals are a tiny few of the 500 million Animals in Australia who, back on factory farms, are kept in prison-like conditions, denied freedom of movement, that would be illegal if they were a cat or a dog!

No wonder we grow up with a warped and romanticised view of the animal farm, when even as kids we have the wool pulled over our eyes at shows like these!

And don't even get me started on the utter cruelty of the rodeos, and the awful leather and skins shops.

So you won't find me at "The Greatest Show on Earth" this year. I'll be spending time celebrating a cruelty-free Easter with my family, friends and ferrets.

Welcome to the first of our exciting "Spot the Difference" series! We find that animal abusers are continually suffering from absurd delusions that animals like being locked in tiny cages… that they like being mutilated, and that skinning them alive is not such a bad thing… You just have to take one look at their advertising to realise this. In short, we think they're a bit out of touch with reality. So we thought we'd give them a helping-hand and point out what a normal, sane person (who doesn't make money from animal cruelty) can clearly see.

That brings us to our first Spot the Difference candidate. You could almost forgive the live export industry for suggesting that Australia has the 'world's best practice' when you see what they think a live export ship looks like. The sticker below was sent out by Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) to try and convince people that shipping animals half way round the world only to be killed is much like sending them on a luxury cruise (…or is it their depiction of Noah's Ark?).

And here's what cramming tens of thousands of frightened animals into a live export ship actually looks like.

Sadly that's not the worst of it. Thousands of Australian animals die on these old ships every year, and those who survive the long journeys have their throats cut whilst fully conscious at the other end – which makes live export one of the cruellest industries on the planet.

So over to you – what tips would you have for MLA to help make their live export stickers a little less laughable? Can you spot the difference?

Alright, here's a treat you'll be jumping up and down about. A recipe for vegan cupcakes!

A couple of weeks ago we ran a stall at the Petacular pet expo in Brisbane. The wonderful volunteer, Kate, offered to bake vegan cupcakes for the day... So of course we said yes yes yes!

The cupcakes looked and tasted amazing! Not surprisingly, they went down a treat and many a cupcake muncher marvelled at the fact that no animals were harmed in the making of these delectible treats.

When highlighting the cruelty of the egg and dairy industries, nothing promotes cruelty free living quite like cupcake goodness. So it's time, as Kate would say, to "share the cupcake love"!

This cupcake concoction was even given the thumbs up by punk heroes Propagandhi. Kate's hubby plays in the Brissie band Bad Day Down, who supported Propagandhi on their recent visit to Australia. On tour, Kate soon assumed the role of official cupcake cooker. But she isn't just a superstar in the kitchen. Check out this photo of her singing on stage with Propagandhi at their Melbourne show. (btw, keep your eyes out for more from us on Propagandhi soon)

Anyway, back to the important business of cupcakes. Here for your pleasure, is the undisputed best cupcake recipe in the world (or at least so claims Kate): Click here for the cupcake-a-licious recipe.

Now don't be greedy! Make sure you share your amazing cruelty free creations with all your friends and family to spread the word about how easy it is to be sweet to animals.