So guys, how was your weekend? Good? Yeh, I thought so. I expected nothing less. :)

And mine? Mine was awesome too! Why? I got to meet Sedgewick the Sheep -- Unleashed's very own animal-cruelty fighting ram!

I, and another few Unleashed Street Team members, were scheduled to meet him on the corner of Bourke and Swanston Street, Melbourne. He promised us all the leafleting session of our lives, so we all waited in earnest -- the topic of conversation: how in the world would a sheep be getting itself into the centre of Melbourne?! But to be honest, I didn't know what to expect -- after all, it'd be pretty hard to get those Unleashed leaflets moving only with hooves, right?

Well, I was wrong! Sedgewick the Sheep is one top bloke ... and one very awesome leafleter! Not only did Sedgewick get lots of people thinking about the benefits of not eating animals, but got hugs all round for his trouble. Everyone, from 7 year olds to 70 year olds, wanted a piece of this fluffy fellow!

We got to the end of the session, and must have got out close to 1,000 leaflets! Now I thought this was something to be happy about, but Sedgewick -- while pumped that countless lives would now surely be saved -- was looking forward to next week, where he would be able to meet even more of Unleashed's finest. In fact, he made me promise one thing: to get home, write a blog, a get more people to next weekend's leafleting session!

So here we are guys: If you're interested in coming along, all your info is right here.

We hope to see you guys soon,

Matt (with help from Sedgewick) ;)

I think Easter is a pretty sweet deal -- holidays and a chocolate supply big enough that I have some to spare after a whole week of stuffing my face. Sadly Easter isn't quite such a sweet deal for the cows who have to produce all that milk for dairy Easter eggs. Not only have they been selectively bred to produce a whopping 10 times the amount of milk their calves would naturally need, but to add insult to injury their calves (who are born just to keep the mums producing milk) are taken away from them within 24hours and most are trucked off to slaughter. Hmm... that's enough to kill that sugar high.

But once you know the dirt on dairy, the big question is how to be sweet to yourself and the cows at Easter...? Well let me tell you, this used to be a challenge! But these days there are so many amazing cruelty-free, dairy-free chocolates around that you probably don't need a blog to point them out. But since you're here...

Our top 5 Must-Have-Eat Vegan Easter Treats!

5. Lindt Dark Choc Bunny
Why? 'Cause these cute little guys are smooth, delicious and available pretty much everywhere (Note only the dark bunnies are vegan, but they're the best, anyway ;)).

4. Alpha Chocolate Eggs
Something to get eggxcited about (first and last egg pun, I swear)! Alpha have a range of fine dairy-free chocolates including large and small eggs. Look out for them at DJ's or TheCrueltyFreeShop.

3. Sweet William Chocolate Bunnies
All Sweet William do is make chocolate. And all Sweet William chocolates are vegan! This Easter they've brought out Easter bunny multi-packs available at Coles, Darrell Lea, Franklins, Independent Groceries and Health Food Stores.

2. Vegan Snickers, Bounty, Milky Way and Mars Bar Doppelgangers
These delights are new to Australia and are to die for. If you're lucky your local health/specialty store will stock them, or pick them up from TheCrueltyFreeShop.

1. DIY Vegan Chocolate Treats
My favourite 'cause there's nothing quite like getting your hands dirty and making your own chocolates! Grab a bar (or five) of your favourite dairy-free chocolate*, melt in a bowl sitting in a pot of shallow boiling water, then scoop the melted chocolate into chocolate moulds and place some roasted nuts (macadamias are my fave) in the centres. Cover with sprinkled nuts or desiccated coconut. You don't need to hold out for Easter -- these make great gifts at any time of year actually! *Here are a few of the brands to look out for:

• Whittaker's Dark Chocolate Block (confectionary isle of supermarkets)
• Tropical Source (fair trade, and lots of yummy varieties! At some supermarkets and heath food stores)
• Bonvita Rice Milk Chocolate (also fair trade. Words can't express how amazing Bonvita is. Their white chocolate is incredible. At health food & specialty stores)
• Sweet William (their range of chocolate bars are in most supermarkets. They now have vegan white chocolate bars too!)

So now you know what to get me for Easter :) If you have any favourites to add to the list please comment below!

Hi! I'm Sim, I'm new to Unleashed and let me just say, the brutal killing of baby seals before they aren't even two weeks old really upsets me!

See, every year the Canadian government allows hundreds of thousands of baby seals to be killed by hunters on the ice floes of Canada. It's basically the largest mass killing of marine mammals anywhere in the world. But that's not the worst of it -- the way these seals are killed is absolutely horrific -- clubbed on the head or shot for their pelts -- and due to the carelessness of hunters, some are even skinned alive.

Last month Matt.Y had a great idea by suggesting we contact the Vancouver Olympic Committee and asking them to put pressure on the Canadian Government to stop the slaughter. But with the hunt about to start, and the Olympics now over, these seal pups still desperately need our help.

Here in Australia we can do something else to help end this killing. Please sign the petition to show Canada what Aussies think of this cruel slaughter -- and get as many of your friends as you can to also sign.

Most importantly, seals, like all animals killed for their fur, need us to step up and refuse to buy any products with fur on them. If you're with me on this, take the pledge to wear your own skin -- and let the seals keep theirs!

Unfortunately, the good news for Australia's last circus elephant was short lived. Despite a huge public plea to retire Saigon, and despite advising Animals Australia that they would take her home after their last string of shows, Perry Bros have now announced on their website that they will be carting Saigon off to Bayswater for their next set of shows.

After 50 years on the road, Saigon deserves a better life than to spend another month locked in a small barren enclosure, with traffic rushing by and a shopping centre for a view.

And so Animals Australia's campaign to free Australia's last circus elephant must be taken to the next level, and all options will be considered including: public advertising, demonstrations, and pressure on the government of VIC to catch up to other states and ban circuses from keeping solitary elephants.

If you haven't signed the petition to 'Free Saigon' yet, please take this opportunity to add your name. If you have, then please print out a copy and get all your friends to sign as well (and then post the sheets back to the office: 37 O'Connell st, North Melbourne, VIC 3051).

Thanks for your support with this campaign!

It reads like a news headline doesn't it? No doubt when people realise that the animal products they consume are literally killing them, it will be a headline. Anyway, this is the story of Rocco – a meat-lovin' cowboy from Arizona who was literally eating himself into a grave.

Rocco's 53 years old, but had the heart of an 85 year old. He's overweight and severely diabetic.

Rocco appeared on the TV show The Dr. Oz Show with the wish to change his life. After some clinical assessments, Dr. Oz recommended that Rocco should go vegan for 28 days to see how dramatically his health improves.

It's one of those things you really hope we would have worked out by now... Whales and dolphins: better off frolicking about the ocean than being bludgeoned to death at the water's edge. Right?? Sadly, in some parts of the world this type of brutal end is still a very real threat for these intelligent marine mammals.

Earlier this week the world wept again for the dolphins killed in Taiji, Japan, thanks to the incredible documentary The Cove at its very deserving win at the Oscars. But there is a lesser-known but equally horrific slaughter of these amazing animals that also needs to stop. Every summer in the Faroe Islands, north of Europe, hundreds of pilot whales and other species of dolphin are rounded up and killed in a bloody event touted by locals as 'tradition'. Men drag the animals ashore by lodging a blunt hook in their blowholes and proceed to hack at their spines and vital blood vessels. It takes several minutes for the animals to die a traumatic and painful death while beached helplessly on the shore. Maybe killing these defenceless animals for food was once necessary in this remote part of the world, but nowadays there is no good reason for it.

Having come from Denmark myself, I find this particularly upsetting, since the Faroe Islands were once governed by Denmark. They are still officially part of the Kingdom of Denmark, but these days they pretty much govern themselves -- and the Danish people have very little power to intervene to help these animals. That's why we are petitioning the Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands, to halt this barbaric and outdated 'cultural event'.

Do you have a moment to help these whales and dolphins? Click here to sign the petition now, post it on Twitter and Facebook, and forward it to all your friends. 'Tradition' is no reason for killing. Don't let the Faroe Islands get away with this -- the whole world needs to know about this shameful practice!